Animals
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Attention

Two hurt in 2 separate bear attacks on the same day, India

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Two persons including a woman sustained grievous injuries after being mauled by bears in two separate incidents under Hinjili police limits on Monday. Sources said at around 9.30 am, Prahalad Gouda of Pudurakhanda under Saru panchayat was attacked by a bear while he was going to his field. Hearing his scream, fellow villagers rushed to the spot and rescued him. Gouda was admitted to Hinjili hospital and later shifted to MKCGMCH after his condition worsened.

In a separate incident, wife of village priest Laxmi Das of Saradapur under Kanchuru panchayat was attacked by a bear while she was entering the temple kitchen. Locals present in the temple rescued her from the bear. She is also undergoing treatment at MKCGMCH.

Black Cat

Florida state reports unprovoked bear, panther attacks

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The large, hairy predator struck fast, left a few claw wounds and was gone.

As Byron Maharrey of central Palm Beach County stalked wild turkey near Lake Kissimmee, he felt something hit him on the back.

"He knocked me over," he said. "He immediately turned straight and ran. From his tawny color and his long tail, I could tell it was a Florida panther. Guessing 80 to 100 pounds."

The March 17 attack left him with puncture wounds to his thigh, a 4-inch gash on his arm and an unusual status as the first victim of a suspected Florida panther attack since the 1800s.

For decades authorities have said that panthers and black bears in Florida have never made an unprovoked attack on a human being, at least in modern times. But in 2012 a bear bit a Seminole County woman who was walking her dog, and in the past few months, the state has seen two more bear attacks and a possible panther attack.

Comment: The interested reader may also wish to peruse further reports of animal attacks on humans in 2014 here (under the Topics heading of Animals).


Wolf

Wolves at the gates of Paris - 2 seen within 40 miles of French capital

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© AFP/GETTY IMAGESForests just outside Paris form an ideal environment for wolves because they are well stocked with wild boar and deer.
Two wolves are spotted within 40 miles of Paris in the first sighting so close to the French capital

Wolves have been spotted within 40 miles of Paris, in the first sighting so close to the capital since they crept back into France from Italy a decade ago.

"They are probably young adults who have separated from the pack as they search for a territory," said wildlife expert Eric Bas. "A wolf can roam about 100 kilometres (60 miles) in a single night."

Forests just outside Paris form an ideal environment for wolves because they are well stocked with wild boar and deer.

The grey wolf was wiped out in France in the 1920s, but has made an astonishing comeback over the past decade. Wolves now numbering at least 300 across the country killed more than 6,000 sheep last year.

The environment minister, Segolene Royal, has authorised culls of wolves - against opposition from conservationists. However, the decision was welcomed by farmers.

Attention

Brown bear kills hunter in Irkutsk region, Russia

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© Press Service of Main Office of the MIA The bear remained nearby and was shot dead by a police marksman.
'Aggressive' animal surprised two hunters in daylight attack, mauling one to death.

The other man escaped and rushed to the nearest village of Tonta where he sounded the alarm. Police and hunters went into the forest and found the dead 59 year old.

The bear remained nearby and was shot dead by a police marksman.

The incident - highlighted by police pictures - was the first case this year of a bear attack in Irkutsk region.

The dead man was not named.

Comment: The interested reader may also wish to peruse further reports of animal attacks on humans in 2014 here (under the Topics heading of Animals).


Attention

Furious Siberian brown bear gets revenge on hunter who shot him in the leg by ripping his car apart

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Car-nage: A furious brown bear is believed to have staged this stunning revenge attack on the car of a hunter ... after he shot and wounded the animal in the thigh
These amazing photographs bring a new meaning to the word car-nage.

A furious brown bear is believed to have staged this stunning revenge attack on the car of a hunter who shot and wounded it in the leg.

The unnamed huntsman and two friends were in the Siberian forest when the beast surprised them.


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Bear-faced cheek: The hunter shot the wild brown bear in the thigh forcing it to flee, but next day when he returned to his Ford car, he realised his prey had had the last laugh, and ripped his vehicle to pieces

Arrow Down

"Massive chick deaths" in Iceland's seabird colonies

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© Tristan FerneArctic tern chick outside its nest in Iceland, July 1, 2014.
When the days grew long, seabirds flocked to this hamlet on the edge of the Arctic to rear their chicks under the midnight sun. "Kria," shrieked the terns, calling summer up from the slumbering ground. Black cliffs were transformed into snowbanks of white kittiwakes. Puffins whirred between land and sea. Murres plied the shoreline, fulmars patrolled the skies. Everywhere sounded their vibrant chorus.

These days, a scatter of stubborn holdovers streaks the sky and paddles the bay, but the legions are gone. The chicks have perished, their bereft parents have returned to sea.

Half of Iceland's seabirds nest on this low-lying volcanic outcropping and its neighboring islands in the deep west coast gash called Breidafjordur Bay. Flatey Island used to be covered with chicks snuggled inside rocky hillside burrows, under tall meadow grass, in nests strewn across headlands and shores.

"There were thousands! You could hear them," says Olina Jonsdottir, who has lived on this island with her husband, Hafsteinn Gudmundsson, nearly 50 years. She looks out her living room window, past the sheep grazing on knuckles of grass-covered lava, past the black basalt beach, to the few birds drifting over the water beyond. "You can't do that anymore. Now there are so few."

Wolf

Yemen man killed by hyena while on phone to wife

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© ShutterstockA relative of the victim said the man was on the phone with his wife as the attack took place.
A man was attacked and killed by a hyena while on the phone to his wife, Dubai-based daily Gulf News reported on Monday.

A relative of the victim said the man was on the phone with his wife as the attack took place, the newspaper said, citing Yemeni police.

The man, who was walking in Yemen's northern province of Rayma, reportedly called his wife after managing to ward off the wild animal, but warned her that he might not being able to safely reach home.

While he was on the phone, the hyena attacked him again and starting tearing into his body, added the UAE-based newspaper.

The woman heard her husband scream for help. She immediately called their sons to rush to the area only to find their father's ripped clothes, along with his skull and legs, the newspaper reported.

Locals had reportedly warned the man that the area where he would walk through was a wildlife sanctuary, and said the man was warned against walking at night.

Wolf

Hyena kills two children and injures five people in Kenya

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© iStockPhoto
A hyena attacked and killed two children before injuring five other people at Boru Haru village in Marsabit County.

Kenya Wildlife Service rangers have since been mobilized to hunt down the beast that is on the run after the incident happened on Wednesday morning.

Locals and police said the incident happened after the wild animal raided the village.

Police named those killed as Quriti Rob, six and Darartu Wario also six while those injured were Tawaro Wario, 60, Bokayo Wako 16, Jilo Doba 20, Rob Tache 23 and Bonaya Galgalo aged 16

Police on the ground and officials at the Marsabit Hospital said they sustained multiple injuries but they were in a stable condition.

Comment: See also: Frenzied hyena attack on 5 people in Buhera, Zimbabwe


Attention

Maoist leader killed by elephant in Nepal

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A local leader of CPN-Maoist was killed in an elephant attack at Amalekhgunj-4 here in Bara district on Sunday morning.

Ganga Bal, 35, died on the spot when a wild elephant attacked her during her morning walk. Her body was found behind the Amalekhgunj office of Nepal Oil Corporation.

Bal was a member of the CPN-Maoist Bhojpura State Committee. Her death has grieved the entire village.

Bara has witnessed four deaths during the past one-and-half month by tusker attacks.

Attention

Elephant attacks and kills a wildlife scout in Zambia

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An elephant has attacked and killed a Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) Scout Lameck Chisangu of Mboola Village in Lupande Game Management Area (GMA).

ZAWA Communications and Public Relations Officer Readith Mwila Muliyunda confirmed the development in a press statement yesterday.

Ms Muliyunda said on the night of September 26 this year, Mr Chisangu, 34, of Kakumbi Community Resource Board woke up to noise of villagers trying to scare away elephants that had strayed in the village.

Upon hearing the noise, the deceased rushed out of his house to assist and unfortunately was attacked by one of the elephants.

He was then rushed to the hospital in the area where he died leaving behind his wife and four children.