Animals
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Attention

One person dies and another injured in jumbo attack, India


The Hindu
Thu, 27 Nov 2014 19:16 UTC
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© Satish Hanumantha RaoElephant charging.
One person was killed and another injured in an elephant attack on Tuesday evening near Heggadde in Sakleshpur taluk, in the Kempuhole reserve forest area.

The deceased has been identified as Yuvaraj (45) and the injured as Manjaiah (60). The two persons had gone into the forest in search of their cattle when they were attacked by the elephant. While the latter, who fell unconscious, returned to the village later, the former did not. The villagers, who went in search of him on Wednesday morning, recovered his body.

Deputy Conservator of Forests Ganesh S. Bhat told The Hindu on Wednesday that the officers were waiting for the injured person to recover to know how the incident happened. Mr. Majaiah is being treated at Sakleshpur hospital.
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Attention

Man injured in wild boar attack in Yamaguchi, Japan


japantoday.com
Mon, 24 Nov 2014 19:08 UTC
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A 71-year-old man was injured by a wild boar while walking near his home in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, police said Monday.

According to police, the incident occurred at around 4 p.m. Sunday. TBS reported that the man suffered injuries to his head, arms and legs.

The boar fled into the garden of a nearby house. About 20 hunters and police captured and destroyed it two hours later.

Police said the boar was 1.2 meters long and weighed about 100 kilograms.
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Attention

Grey seals kill porpoises and could attack humans, Dutch scientists warn

Sarah Knapton
The Telegraph, UK
Tue, 25 Nov 2014 16:44 UTC
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© Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Grey Seal bulls fight at sunset near the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's Donna Nook nature reserve in Grimsby
Swimmers have been warned to keep clear of grey seals after scientists discover that they attack and kill porpoises

Grey seals may be a danger to swimmers after scientists discovered they were responsible for the widespread slaughter and mutilation of North Sea porpoises.

Wildlife experts have long been divided over what caused the horrific injuries seen on the bodies of hundreds of beached harbour porpoises. Some blamed boat propellers while others claimed the animals had become entangled in fishing nets and left at the mercy of scavengers.

Now DNA analysis of their injuries has led to an intriguing conclusion. It seems they are regularly attacked and killed by grey seals which tear strips of nutritious blubber from their bodies.

And scientists have warned that the seals could target human swimmers in a similar way.
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Attention

Stranded long-finned pilot whale died from starvation on Essex coast, UK


BBC
Sat, 22 Nov 2014 16:23 UTC
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The whale was found on a beach with "partial rigor mortis", said cetacean experts
The first long-finned pilot whale to beach in the southern North Sea for 22 years died from starvation, post-mortem tests have found.

The whale, among a 40-strong pod seen along the East Anglian coast, washed up near Goldhanger, Essex, on Thursday afternoon.

Marine experts successfully encouraged most of the whales from the shallow Blackwater Estuary into deeper waters.

But one - a 2.18m female - was found dead.

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Attention

Pygmy sperm whale found dead on Anglesey beach, Wales


Daily Post (Wales)
Mon, 17 Nov 2014 13:22 UTC
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Gwynedd Council worker Rhys Jones found the young pygmy sperm whale at Dinas Dinlle beach, a week after it had been refloated by rescuers.

A whale that was rescued and freed back into the sea last week has died.

The young pygmy sperm whale was spotted washed up on a beach at Dinas Dinlle today, opposite Newborough beach where it was originally found stranded and rescued, last Thursday, November 20.

It was discovered by Gwynedd council worker Rhys Jones.

A post-mortem will be carried out by the government's Marine Environmental Monitoring body to try to find out what caused the animal's death.

Dr Peter Evans, Director of the Seawatch Foundation, said it was not surprising that the whale had died.
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Wolf

Dog attacks on people triple over a year in Queenstown, New Zealand

John Edens
stuff.co.nz
Thu, 27 Nov 2014 22:25 UTC
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© John Kirk-AndersonDANGEROUS: The number of dog listed as 'menacing' in Queenstown is on the rise.
Roaming dogs, the number of menacing dogs and attacks on people are on the rise in Queenstown.

The number of attacks on people increased from six in the 2012/13 financial year to 19 in the last period.

The number of dogs classed as "menacing" more than doubled from eight to 19, while the number of infringement notices for failing to keep a dog under control leapt from 17 to 37.

Councillors will consider a dog control report during a Queenstown Lakes District Council meeting today.

Council regulatory manager Lee Webster said there was a small increase in the number of dogs registered in the district but the increased number of attacks may also be due to more reporting.

"Over the last year we have seen an increase in the overall number of attacks [on people and animals] from 24 to 46 which has generated significant demand for the animal control service," the report said.
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Attention

Dozens of bird corpses wash up on Monterey beach, California

James Urton
Monterey Herald
Wed, 19 Nov 2014 21:44 UTC
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Birds recently began washing up on Monterey Municipal Beach.
Over the past few days, the tide has brought in more than just kelp.

Recently, observant beachgoers have reported dozens of bird corpses along the high-water mark of several local beaches. On Wednesday morning, there were over four dozen dead seabirds along a 1.5-mile stretch of Monterey Municipal Beach, including Cassin's auklets, western grebes, northern fulmars and murres.

Seabirds can die during fall migration if they are too old, weak or malnourished. Also, warm near-shore waters may have decreased local populations of krill, a common food for seabirds, according to Raphael Kudela, professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz. Occasional algal blooms can also kill seabirds.

The causes of death of the birds spotted Wednesday were not known. But, dead seabirds are not an unusual feature of Monterey-area shorelines during autumn, experts with the Audubon Society and the Monterey County chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said.

"This appears to be one of those things that can happen every year around this time," said Jessica Shipman, a spokeswoman with the Monterey County SPCA.
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Attention

3 stranded sperm whales die on Rototai beach, New Zealand

Charlotte Squire
stuff.co.nz
Mon, 24 Nov 2014 21:14 UTC
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© Charlotte Squire Word of mouth spread fast, inspiring hundreds of people to make the trip out on Rototai Beach to see and touch three sperm whales that stranded on the shallow tidal flats on Saturday night
In what became a Golden Bay community event, hundreds of people turned up at Rototai beach to see and touch three dead sperm whales that had become stranded.

The whales, which ranged in length from 14 to 17 metres long were located about one kilometre out on tidal flats from the beach carpark.

Local iwi gathered to bless the three whales, which were towed by tug boat to Farewell Spit last night, once the tide was high enough to move them.

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Attention

Third elephant attack within 3 days in Sri Lanka: Two killed in jumbo attack


The Island (Sri Lanka)
Thu, 27 Nov 2014 16:39 UTC
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Two men were killed in a wild elephant attack on Monday night at Ellakattuwa,

The deceased were A. Gunadasa (65) and P. G. Sambarana (62).

The Wildlife officials said that the elephant had emerged from the jungles of Nochchiyagama and moved to Malwathu Oya after killing the two persons.

A team of Wildlife officials had moved to the area to capture the elephant and relocate it, the officials said.

Source: NP

Comment: The other reports this week: Father and son killed in elephant attack, Sri Lanka

2 people killed in another elephant attack in Sri Lanka

Other recent reports from Sri Lanka: Wild elephant attacks kills two in Sri Lanka

One person killed in wild elephant attack in Sri Lanka

Fourth elephant attack within four weeks in Sri Lanka

Two killed in a wild elephant attack in Maankulam, Sri Lanka

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Attention

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

Mary Callahan
The Press Democrat
Sun, 23 Nov 2014 15:46 UTC
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© SABINE'S SUNBIRDCassins Auklet at night (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) photo taken in 2003 on Farallon Islands
Scientists up and down the West Coast are monitoring what appears to be a large-scale die-off of young Cassin's auklets, small seabirds whose breeding grounds include a colony in the Farallon Islands west of San Francisco.

Emaciated, white-bellied birds have been washing ashore in Sonoma County and along a broad swath of California coastline since early November after a period of ocean warming in the Farallones region and disappearance of the tiny krill that provide their main source of food, researchers say.

Scientists are still collecting data, but the largest concentration of dead birds appears to be in northern Oregon, according to monitors in the Pacific Northwest. Birds have been washing up in Washington, as well.

Scientists say anyone who finds a dead bird should leave it alone so that monitors surveying the beaches can collect accurate records on the die-off.
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