Animals
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Attention

Elephant tramples man to death in India


The Hindu
Thu, 13 Nov 2014 22:08 UTC
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A 52-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Pathiri South forest under the Chethalayath range of the South Wayanad Forest Division on Tuesday night.

The deceased was identified as Joy, from Thadathil at Karyampathi, near Pulpally.

Range officer P. Ranjithkumar said a herd of elephants chased Joy and his friend Chandran of Karyampathi tribal colony when they were collecting firewood from the forest. While Joy was trampled to death by an elephant, Chandran managed to escape.

The body was found in a search by forest officials and villagers on Wednesday.

Joy is survived by wife Lilly and two children.
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Ladybug

Millions of ladybirds invade Romanian town

David Rogers
Daily Mirror, UK
Mon, 10 Nov 2014 18:43 UTC
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A wing and a nightmare: Residents have resorted to sweeping the bugs up with brooms
Millions on the insects settled on the town overnight, with experts blaming a rise in the number of greenflies - ladybird's favourite food

This creepy footage of a plague of ladybirds swarming through a town is guaranteed to make your skin crawl.

Millions of the winged insects settled on the town of Lipova, in western Romania, overnight.

Residents have had to seal up their homes to stop swarms of the bugs taking them over.

And despite attempts by town hall officials to control the invasion with pesticides, the determined bugs - members of the beetle family - keep coming in waves.

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Attention

Riddle of 4 cetacean deaths in 2 weeks on Almería coast, Spain

Graham Allen-Rawlings
Costa Almeria News
Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:46 UTC
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Marine life volunteers inspecting the dead fin whale that was found offshore near Retamar last week
The recent deaths of two dolphins and two whales on the Almería coast have raised questions about their possible causes, as they came just days after naval exercises were carried out in the same area.

The first of the strandings was that of a Pilot whale in Balerma, El Ejido, the last week of October, followed by the discovery of a decomposed dolphin washed up on a beach in Cuevas del Almanzora.

The body of a 20-metre long Fin whale was spotted in the waters off Retamar a few days later and then a Striped dolphin was found stranded on a remote beach in Cabo de Gata. The latter died only moments after the arrival on the scene of members of Equinac, the non-governmental organization responsible for marine animals in the province.

CA news spoke to Alexander Sánchez, biologist with Equinac. He said naval exercises in the area "have been known to cause harm to cetaceans in the past" in reference to four Cuvier's beaked whales that were washed ashore in 2006 on the beaches of Garrucha, Mojacar and Villaricos.
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Attention

2-year-old boy mauled to death and eaten by pig after crawling into its pen, China


singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg
Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:22 UTC
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A toddler in China was mauled to death and partially eaten by a pig after crawling into the animal's pen.

The two-year-old Wei Tsao, known affectionately as Keke, was playing in the garden of his parents' house, in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, when they decided to step away for a moment.

The toddler then crawled into the pig pen where the protective sow mauled him to death in an attempt to protect her newborn piglets.
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Attention

Wild boar shot after midnight attack on family, China


globaltimes.cn
Thu, 16 Jan 2014 15:26 UTC
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© hsw.cnA wild boar lies dead after police in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province were forced to shoot it after the animal attacked a family in their home.
It took police seven shots to kill a wild boar that rushed into a home and attacked a villager in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province on January 12.

Area police found the 200-kilogram boar trapped in the home of a Donghe village family where it had rushed in and attacked a young man.

The 18-year-old victim was brought to a local hospital for a bite wound on his right thigh.

Authorities eventually lured the feral pig outside and fired seven times before killing it. "I and two other officers climbed on the roof for a better shot," said Yang Zhanmin, deputy chief of Xunyi county police. "The boar began thrashing around after the first two shots to its head, and we fired five more times to make sure it wouldn't injure anyone," said Yang.

According to Fu Jie, father of the victim, the boar fell into his family's courtyard while scavenging for food on one of the compound roofs at around 1 am on January 12.

Comment: 2014 has seen quite a lot of demented behaviour by wild boar across the planet, see the reports below -

More odd animal behaviour: Wild boar smashes into German hardware store

6 people attacked and bitten by a wild boar in Tokyo

At least six people attacked and injured by a group of wild boar in India

Wild boar and pig attacks in Vietnam - 2 in hospital in same week

Wild boar attacks man in Inarajan, Guam

Wild boar savagely attacks man in Imphal, India

Elderly woman viciously attacked by a wild boar in Malaysia

Man injured in wild boar attack in India with other attacks reported

Woman killed by wild boar in rare attack, Vietnam

TV cameraman viciously attacked by a wild boar on Japanese street

Pack of wild boar attack woman in suburb of Stockholm, Sweden

Wild boar fed up with being hunted - charges hunters in France

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Wolf

Child expected to survive after mauling by family dog in Elmore County, Alabama

Hunter Robinson
WSFA.com
Wed, 05 Nov 2014 14:19 UTC
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A 3-year-old boy suffered severe facial injuries after being attacked Wednesday afternoon by a pit bull in the Titus community of Elmore County. Sheriff Bill Franklin said the dog was owned by the boy's family and was on a chain in the yard when the child was mauled.

"The dog was actually owned by the father's brother from what we understand. The account we got was the animal takes part in hunting hogs," Sheriff Franklin said.

The child reportedly wandered out of the house while his father was in the bathroom, and got within reach of the dog. That is when the dog attacked the child, authorities say. Once the father was aware of what happened, he called 911, picked the child up, and took him near the roadway where they waited on emergency personnel to arrive. The child was then taken by medical helicopter to Children's Hospital in Birmingham.
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Wolf

Pet dog attacks, mauls baby and mother in Bremerton, Washington


The Register-Guard
Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:01 UTC
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A pet dog mauled a 10-month-old boy and bit his mother on her hands and arms when she went to help him Tuesday evening at a home in Bremerton.Fire department emergency responders say the boy was alone in a room playing with a broom when the family dog attacked.

The Kitsap Sun reports the woman and her son were transported to Harrison Medical Center.Firefighter Troy Reynolds said the boy suffered substantial facial injuries.The dog was described as a medium-sized boxer mix.

Source: Kitsap Sun
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Wolf

More 'rare' urban coyote attacks on Indiana dogs


theindychannel.com
Tue, 11 Nov 2014 20:46 UTC
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A Purdue Animal Hospital veterinarian says fatal coyote attacks on dogs in cities are uncommon but the clinic has recently seen two such cases.

Veterinarian Steve Thompson tells WLFI-TV that two small dogs -- one in Lafayette and another in Frankfort -- were both attacked within a 24-hour period last week. Both pets had been left outside for short periods of time before the coyote attacks.

Thompson says another dog was attacked by a coyote in rural Tippecanoe County two weeks ago. He says such rural attacks will become more common as winter approaches.

Thompson says food left outside for pets can attract coyotes who may later hunt small pets.

Comment: It seems that these 'rare' coyote attacks on dogs are becoming increasingly common, of late. See also:

Dozens of pets killed by coyotes in College Park, Florida

Coyotes killing pets in Seal Beach, California

Spike in coyote attacks on animal pets in Claremont, California

Woman and dogs attacked by coyote in front of her Kilworthy home, Ontario

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Black Cat 2

Firefighters and police hunting tiger on the loose near Paris


Discovery News
Thu, 13 Nov 2014 15:50 UTC
tiger loose near paris
© Ville de Montevrain - Facebook A photo of a tiger roaming free close to Paris was posted to the Facebook page of the nearby town of Ville de Montevrain.
Police and firefighters were desperately hunting for a tiger on the loose near Paris Thursday after a local resident spotted the fearsome animal in a car park and sounded the alert, authorities said.

Backed up by a helicopter overhead, firefighters armed with tranquilising guns combed the area in the Seine-et-Marne district near the French capital.

Authorities ordered residents to stay inside and children were kept at school, as several people came forward saying they had seen the tiger on the prowl.

"We have been running after it since this morning, police officers are trying to intercept it," a police source said.

Town hall official Cedric Tartaud-Gineste told AFP: "We are calling on inhabitants to be careful, not to leave their houses and to stay in their vehicles."

Comment: Residents should be concerned considering the numerous incidences of strange and aggressive behaviors being exhibited by animals worldwide. For some idea of what has occurred just in the last month, see the map below:



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Attention

More odd animal behaviour: Wild boar smashes into German hardware store


nbcmontana.com
Thu, 06 Nov 2014 16:25 UTC
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Animal ran full 'boar' into glass doors, breaking through and triggering alarm

Police in Germany came face-to-face with a wild boar after responding to a burglary alarm at a hardware store.

"The animal apparently ran at full speed against the entrance door of the large do-it-yourself shop and broke through two glass doors, which triggered the alarm," police spokesman Guido Rehr told NBC News.

Surveillance camera footage captured the animal wandering around the store's aisles.

It escaped "without any loot and apparently unharmed" once officials opened the front doors, police said.

Damages to the store in Dillenburg are estimated at $6,500.
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