Animals
S


Attention

Pet monkey enters neighbourhood houses and attacks children in Nigeria


Leadership
Thu, 30 Apr 2015 19:06 UTC
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The three children who suffered serious injuries following an unexpected attack by a monkey in Illado, Ikorodu, Lagos, are receiving treatment at the Shallom Hospital in the area, the Police in Lagos said on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the children, attacked on Tuesday, are eight-year-old girl, Funmilayo Gbadegeshin, two siblings Roda and Emmanuel Alombo.

Eyewitnesses told NAN that the monkey is owned by one Mrs Daniel, popularly known as "Iya Ibeji' who also resides in Illado also.

Mr Babatunde Oyesola, one of the residents, who said he witnessed the incident, told NAN that the monkey left the owner's house and went into the Gbadegeshin's home.

It attacked Funmilayo right in the parents' home as she just returned from school.

He added that after the she was rescued and was rushed to a nearby hospital the monkey moved to another house belonging to Mr Alombo to attack Roda and Emmanuel.

The children had just returned from school also.
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Attention

Portents and signs: Calf born with 2 heads at Florida farm

Ben Hooper
upi.com
Thu, 30 Apr 2015 17:05 UTC
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© WLS-TVA two-headed calf
Dwight Crews said the two-headed calf is the first he's seen in 60 years of raising cattle.

A Florida farmer said he was shocked when one of his cows gave birth to a living two-headed calf, but experts said the calf is unlikely to live for very long.

Dwight Crews, a Baker County farmer who has been raising cattle for more than 60 years, said it was clear right away that the calf born Sunday was unusual.

"A two-headed calf! I can not believe it," Crews told WJXT-TV. "I've heard of them, but I've never seen one. This is my first one."

Crew said the female calf, which his daughter dubbed Annabel, has trouble standing up, but she has been feeding from a bottle. He said the calf's other mouth moves when one mouth is suckling.


Comment: See also these other reports since the end of March:

Portents and signs: 5-legged lamb born in Wales

Portents and signs: Baby born with eight limbs in India

Portents and signs: Lamb born with face like an 'angry old man' in Dagestan

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Bug

A lesson from nature? Bumblebees use nicotine to combat parasites


Science Daily
Mon, 27 Apr 2015 16:44 UTC
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© D Baracchi/QMULThis is a bumblebee feeding at an artificial feeder.

Bumblebees that have been infected by parasites seek out flowers with nicotine in the nectar, likely to fight off the infection, new research has found. The nicotine appears to slow the progression of disease in infected bees but has harmful effects when consumed by healthy bees.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), gave bumblebees the option to choose between a sugar solution with nicotine in it and one without. Those bees infected with the Crithidia bombi parasite were more likely to go for the nicotine-laced nectar than those that weren't infected.

Infected bumblebees that consumed nicotine delayed the progress of the infection for a few days, showing lower levels of parasites than those that had not. However, it did not increase the life expectancy of those bees, meaning that the direct benefits of nicotine for the bee colony remain to be identified.
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Ice Cube

Harsh winter kills 29% of blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay

Darryl Fears
Washington Post
Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:55 UTC
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© Alyssa A. Botelho/The Washington PostA bushel of "Number 1" male blue crabs, the largest crabs that the watermen sell.
For the second straight year, a harsh winter killed more than a quarter of adult blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay.

But a baywide survey of the crab population released Monday said there was encouraging news in spite of the blow. The overall population of the beleaguered crustacean climbed modestly from a catastrophic low last year.

The yearly winter dredge survey conducted by Virginia and Maryland marine scientists estimates that 411 million crabs are in the main stem of the bay and its tributaries, a 38 percent increase from last year's critically low population.

Officials at Virginia's Marine Resources Commission greeted the news as a positive sign but said it's probably not enough to lift strict limits on the numbers of blue crabs that can be commercially fished.
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Cell Phone

Trapped ducklings waddle to iPhone duck-call ringtone used by Louisiana firemen

Jana Kasperkevic
The Guardian
Mon, 27 Apr 2015 18:18 UTC
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© Julie Habel/Corbis The six ducklings were reunited with their mom.
The St Tammany fire department in Slidell, Louisiana, has a new specialty: saving ducks. On Saturday, its firefighters rescued six ducklings trapped in a storm drain - by using a duck-call ringtone.

"A neighbor reported seeing a number of baby ducks fall into a storm drain," the fire department said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. "Upon arriving on the scene, firefighters verified that several baby mallard ducks were trapped in the storm drain. Firefighters removed the top cover of the drain to gain access to the ducks.

"Firefighter Cody Knecht got down in the drain to try and capture the ducks. Captain Chuck Davis, fire operator Jason Theriot, and fire prevention officer Billy Dekemel assisted from above. With the help of a duck-call ringtone on his iPhone, firefighter Knecht was able to lure the baby ducks to him. It took about an hour and a half to rescue four of the six baby ducks."

After giving the rescued ducks a chance to calm down at the fire station, the crew returned to rescue the other two ducklings. The birds were then reunited with their mother in the canal behind the home where the incident took place.

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Binoculars

Arctic snowy owl seen in North Clare, Ireland during spring

Mark Dunphy
The Clare Herald
Wed, 15 Apr 2015 17:32 UTC
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© John MurphySnowy Owl.
A Snowy Owl has been recorded in North Clare, just the fourth such sighting of the bird in Clare during the past 100 years.

The bird was sighted on Sunday in the Gleninagh Mountain area, located a few miles northwest of Ballyvaughan along the North Clare coastline.

A Snowy Owl was recorded in the same area in late May 2014. Previous sightings occurred in Mount Callan in 2010 and at Maghera in East Clare in 1907.
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Attention

Elephant tramples traditional doctor to death in Zambia

Boniface Keakabetse
Mmegi
Tue, 28 Apr 2015 17:11 UTC
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Elephant charging
A trip to gather wild plants in Kazungula forest turned into a nightmare when a 68-year-old traditional doctor was trampled to death by an elephant, on Tuesday.

The elephant reportedly charged at the man, who was in the company of his 50-year-old friend while the two were digging for healing plants. The latter man managed to escape and flee for safety, while the traditional doctor failed to run away.

News of the traditional healer's death was trending on online social media platforms like Facebook, as he was well known in the North West district, for his divine healing gift.

Kasane police station commander, Superintendent Silton Fidzani said that the traditional doctor who hailed from Parakarungu within the Chobe District, but was stationed in Kasane met his demise at around 14:30 hours on Tuesday.
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Wolf

25 injured as stray dogs go on biting spree in Vijayawada, India


The New Indian Express
Tue, 28 Apr 2015 17:54 UTC
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Injured by dogs
Stray dogs in and around city went on a biting spree on Monday and around 25 people fell victim to the canine attack. The casualty ward of the Government General Hospital here was choked with dog bite victims and the doctors there had their hands full administering anti-rabies vaccine to them.

A pack of stray dogs went on the rampage and attacked people in Sanatnagar and Kannur on the city outskirts. As many as nine persons including five children were hurt in these places.

Enraged over the dog menace, residents of the area beat a dog to death. In Payakapuram, three persons were bitten by a street dog. There were other sporadic incidents of dog bites reported from other parts of the city and suburbs.

"Since the morning we have seen around 25 dog bite cases and we have given anti-rabies vaccine to them and there were no severe injuries. We have sufficient number of vaccines and required medicines to treat the victims," said GGH Superintendent U Surya Kumari.
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Black Cat

Man fights off wild leopard with only a stick in Indore, India

Jack Simpson
The Independent, UK
Tue, 28 Apr 2015 17:20 UTC
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Armed only with a stick, man fights a leopard in India
This is the moment a fearless forest ward armed only with a stick fought off a wild leopard in central India.

In the amazing encounter that occurred in the city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, the man is seen confronting the big cat in an attempt to stop it from attacking local residents.

After a short face-off, the leopard launches itself at the forest ward with its claws raised and its mouth open.

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Attention

2 people killed by elephants within 3 weeks in Botswana

Ludo Chube
allafrica.com
Tue, 28 Apr 2015 16:50 UTC
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Elephant attack
Police in Kasane have confirmed that yet another life has been lost to an elephant attack in Chobe, barely three weeks after another incident.

A 68-year-old man from Kazungula was allegedly killed by an elephant by the road leading to the Zimbabwean border.

Station commander for Kasane police, Superintendent Silton Fidzani confirmed the incident, which he said took place on Tuesday (April 21) at around 2:30pm.

According to an eye witness, two men were digging some trees by the side of the road when a herd of elephants came towards them with one elephant in particular charging at them.

"One of the men managed to escape while the elephant caught up with the victim who was later confirmed dead at Kasane Primary Hospital," he said.
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