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Teenager survives first confirmed wolf attack in Minnesota

cbsnews.com
Tue, 27 Aug 2013 13:45 UTC

It's being called the first confirmed attack of a person by a gray wolf in Minnesota history, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Now, a 16-year-old Solway boy is home recovering from a vicious bite wound to the head.

It happened early Saturday morning at the West Winnie Campground on Lake Winnibigoshish in north central Minnesota. The campground is operated by the U.S. Forest Service and was temporarily closed following the wolf attack, reports CBS affiliate WCCO in Minneapolis.

The gray wolf, also known as a timber wolf, was captured by trappers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The wolf was shot and killed to permit testing for rabies at the University of Minnesota veterinary diagnostic lab.

According to Col. Ken Soring, enforcement director for the DNR, Saturday's attack was freakish and unprecedented.

Body of 26-year-old man recovered after crocodile attack in Australia

irishcentral.com
Tue, 27 Aug 2013 10:29 UTC

Despite many signs and warnings not to swim man took to river

The body of Sean Cole, a 26-year-old swimmer, and the crocodile that killed him have been recovered by Australian police from a notorious Outback river at the weekend.

Cole and a friend made the fatal decision to swim across the Northern Territory's dangerous Mary River. They had been in the water a short time when a 15 foot crocodile snapped its jaws around Cole's chest as fifteen of their friends looked on in horror from the bank.

Northern Territory wildlife ranger Tom Nichols told the press that Cole's body and the dead crocodile floated to the surface early today. The crocodile was shot by rangers within hours of the deadly attack on Saturday, but it sunk away into the river before it could be retrieved.

The Mary River is a famous habitat for the dangerous reptiles and police are mystified as to why Cole decided to swim in it.

Big cat has Detroit neighborhood on edge

usatoday.com
Sat, 24 Aug 2013 14:59 UTC

A Humane Society officials said it's unclear whether the cat is feral or domesticated and what breed it is.

Ambling down the block a couple of weeks ago with his 1-year-old daughter perched on his shoulders, Antwaun Asberry sensed something was behind him.

He turned around and spotted a tall creature that appeared to be a cat, only a lot bigger.

"His tail is longer than my arm," Asberry, a 6-foot-5 Detroiter with a lanky build, said of the cat. "I was like, what the (expletive) ... I don't know what it is. I just want it gone."

So do other residents in the northeast Detroit neighborhood, who said they're unnerved by this supersize cat roaming the streets in recent weeks. They've tried calling Detroit police and Animal Control, but have gotten no response. On Friday, the Michigan Humane Society said it will investigate the case and try to find the cat.

"We're going to put some effort into this," said Nancy Gunnigle, a director with the Humane Society. Cats this size, she said, are "not easy to catch."

The area around Joann Street south of 8 Mile doesn't have roaming dogs - an issue publicized in news media reports this past week.

It's the cat that has bothered residents.

Massive dolphin die-ff could be from measles-like virus

Lawrence LeBlond
RedOrbit
Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:59 UTC

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine have turned a large laboratory designed to treat four-legged animals into a research facility to get to the bottom of one of this summer's greatest tragic mysteries.

Some 70 miles away, dolphins are turning up dead along the Jersey shore and other coastal communities and, at this point, the cause still remains largely unknown. More than 200 dolphins have washed ashore since June and many have ended up on UPenn's New Bolton Center research tables where veterinarians look to find an answer.

The UPenn lab was specifically called upon for this task due to close ties with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) in Brigantine, NJ, which handled many of the deceased creatures that turned up on nearby shorelines.

The Center, located in Kennett Square, PA, sits in the southeastern part of the state near the Delaware line. The board-certified veterinary specialists have performed detailed necropsies on each of the dolphins brought into the lab to hunt out and identify potential abnormalities. Hours upon hours are then spent examining tissues under microscopes and researchers conduct tests with antibodies, hoping to uncover the cause of death in these intelligent marine mammals.

After painstakingly long processes, some evidence has turned up.

"One of the saddest things to see on these creatures is some have horrible pneumonias and ulcers so you know that they are suffering. And the shark bites are kind of sobering to look at," Dr. Perry Habecker, chief of large-animal pathology at the New Bolton Center, told USA Today's Kristi Funderburk.

Gorilla hits woman with rock at Swedish zoo

upi.com
Mon, 26 Aug 2013 13:20 UTC

A woman in Sweden was injured when a gorilla threw a rock a rock at her head, officials at Kolmarden Wildlife Park said.

Marjorie Castro, head of the zoo, said one of the zoo's five gorillas threw a stone measuring about 2 inches in diameter Saturday and the rock struck a 38-year-old woman in the forehead, Swedish news agency TT reported Monday.

"At first everything seemed fine. She was bleeding a little from her forehead, but seemed to be in good health," Castro told the Aftonbladet newspaper. "But she was hit in the head and gorillas have enormous strength, so we called an ambulance. After a while, she felt weak and we had to lie her down."

Castro said the incident marked the first time the zoo's gorillas had thrown anything besides grass at visitors.

However, some zoo visitors said otherwise, including a mother who said a gorilla threw a rock at her 7-year-old son in July.

Swordfish catch in River Tyne 'very rare'

BBC News
Mon, 26 Aug 2013 00:26 UTC

A swordfish usually found swimming in the clear, warm waters of the Mediterranean has been caught by a surprised fisherman in the River Tyne.

The fish, which measures about 1.2m (4ft) long from the tip of its sword to its tail, was caught in salmon nets close to South Tyneside.

It has now been taken to Latimer's Fishmongers in Whitburn to be filleted.

Owner Rob Latimer believes the fish had been "chasing" mackerel or salmon down the river when it got caught.

"It must have fancied a holiday in Whitburn I think - I can't blame it," Mr Latimer said.

Swordfish are normally associated with warmer waters like the Mediterranean sea.

Chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO), Barry Deas, said: "I have never heard of this before.

"They are definitely a warm water fish, this is very rare."

A maelstrom of mayflies: Millions of insects create flying cacoons around cars as they rise from the River Danube in Hungary

Becky Evans
The Daily Mail, UK
Sun, 25 Aug 2013 15:02 UTC

One of only a handful of times mayflies have swarmed there in 40 years

Efforts to clean up the river have helped the insects return to the area

Spectacle become unlikely tourist attraction with scores watching

Millions of mayflies swarmed along the River Danube in Hungary this weekend as they hatched there for one of the first times in 40 years.

Passers-by were hit with blizzard-like conditions and the air was thick with the winged insects.

There were so many insects in the northern town of Tahitotfalu, about 18 miles from Budapest, that cyclists had to cover their faces and cars were barely visible, even with their headlights on.

Blizzard: A car is barely visible as it travels through millions of swarming mayflies in Tahitotfalu, Hungary

In the spotlight: The headlights illuminate the millions of insects that hatched along the River Danube

Bird deaths in Moscow spark 'zombie pigeon' scare

Daisy Sindelar
rferl.org
Wed, 14 Aug 2013 14:32 UTC

In crowded, summertime Moscow, there are fears the "zombie pigeons" may pose a health risk to their human neighbors.

Pigeons, those hardy urban survivalists, rarely evoke much sympathy in humans.

But in the past week, many residents of the Russian capital, Moscow, have expressed alarm at the growing number of dead and dying pigeons on city streets.

What's most unnerving, say capital dwellers like Umid, is the way the normally spunky birds are behaving.

"When I walk to work, I usually see pigeons running and jumping around. But recently, they haven't been reacting to anything at all," he says. "When a person walks past them, they used to fly away. But now they just sit there in a kind of funk and don't even pay attention to you. They're just not normal. I've seen some pigeons behaving very strangely, turning around in circles."

Panicked Russians contact authorities to report eerie behavior of 'zombie pigeons'

John Hall
The Independent
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 17:23 UTC

Birds seem extremely lethargic and seemingly fearless

A number of panicked Russians have contacted the authorities to report concerns over the bizarre behaviour of pigeons in Moscow.

Locals have dubbed the birds "zombie pigeons" after a strange change in their behaviour swept the city - leaving the birds extremely lethargic and seemingly fearless.

Speaking to Europe Radio Liberty, a Moscow resident named Umid said: "When I walk to work I usually see pigeons running and jumping around. But recently they haven't been reacting to anything at all".

He added: "When a person walks past them, they used to fly away. But now they just sit there in a kind of funk and don't even pay attention to you. They're just not normal."

Rare sea turtle gets lost off British coast while swimming more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic

Jennifer Smith
The Daily Mail,UK
Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:08 UTC

The endangered loggerhead turtle was spotted by a sailor off Portland Bill, Dorset

It is believed the creature mistook the unusually warm British waters for the Canary Islands
Last known sighting of a loggerhead turtle in Dorset was in 1938

A rare, endangered sea turtle was spotted off the Dorset coast after it got lost on its way to the Mediterranean.

The 4ft loggerhead turtle was seen as it made its 3,000 mile journey across the Atlantic from the east coast of America.

It is thought the unusually warm UK waters fooled the creature into thinking it had arrived in the Canary Islands.

The turtle was spotted by a sailor off the Dorset coast. It is believed the turtle mistook the warm waters of Britain for the Canary Islands where it usually migrates to at this time of the year

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Animals
S

Teenager survives first confirmed wolf attack in Minnesota

Body of 26-year-old man recovered after crocodile attack in Australia

Big cat has Detroit neighborhood on edge

Massive dolphin die-ff could be from measles-like virus

Gorilla hits woman with rock at Swedish zoo

Swordfish catch in River Tyne 'very rare'

A maelstrom of mayflies: Millions of insects create flying cacoons around cars as they rise from the River Danube in Hungary

Bird deaths in Moscow spark 'zombie pigeon' scare

Panicked Russians contact authorities to report eerie behavior of 'zombie pigeons'

Rare sea turtle gets lost off British coast while swimming more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic

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