Animals
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Attention

Elephants take revenge after herd member struck by train in India

Kristen Butler
upi.com
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 09:08 UTC
Elephants take revenge after herd member struck by train, hold vigil, attack villages

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© Big DubyaA train runs through the forest

A group of 15 elephants in mourning for a herd member struck and killed by a train have reportedly taken out their anguish on nearby villages, damaging at least 10 homes and partially destroying a schoolhouse.

For the last several days, the elephants have remained near the location of the fatal train accident in an ongoing vigil near the village of Matari in eastern India, and the herd has halted several other trains passing through the area.

Villagers have been keeping all-night vigils themselves, in an effort to thwart the attacks and hold the elephants back with firecrackers, but so far villagers haven't been able to drive the herd away.

Wildlife activist D. S. Srivastava explained that elephants are intelligent, emotional and have been known to resort to revenge attacks against those they feel responsible for the death of their friend and family member -- in this case humans.
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Fish

Mysterious animal die-offs in the USA, Canada, Europe and China: Birds, dolphin, cygnets, fish and oysters


strangesounds.org
Sun, 11 Aug 2013 08:13 UTC
Dozen birds Fall mysteriously from the Sky in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada - CBC

Animal experts are trying to figure out what may have killed dozens of black birds that fell from the sky in Winnipeg's North End on Wednesday. Conservation officers have picked up more than 50 dead birds near the intersection of King Street and Dufferin Avenue, while the Winnipeg Humane Society took in 11 birds that were still alive.


Jellyfish attack in Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province China - HISZ

Nearly 20 people were stung by jellyfish yesterday at Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province - including seven who were treated and released by a hospital, and one who had extensive stings and was admitted for further treatment, Yangtze Evening News reported today. A beach official said jellyfish appeared to have been dismembered for an unknown reason in the sea and tentacles washed up at the beach.
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Question

Rare Curlew bird found wandering around UK supermarket


swns.com
Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:40 UTC
One of Britain's rarest birds stunned shoppers after it was found wandering around - a Lidl supermarket

The stone curlew was discovered "dazed and confused" in the shop many miles from the nearest habitat.

Stone curlews are a ground-nesting bird that were once common in upland areas of the West, but nearly died out because of modern farming methods.

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A wildlife expert releases a stone curlew to the wild – after it was found in a supermarket in Devizes, Wiltshire
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Bizarro Earth

'Evil' seagulls held us hostage

Lucy Leeson
Hull Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 00:27 UTC
Jim and Penny Freeman
© Jerome EllerbyLiving in Fear: Jim Fudge and Penny Freeman in their garden in Bridlington.
A brother and sister say they were too scared to leave their home because of "evil" seagulls.

Penny Freeman, 69, and her brother, Jim Fudge, 67, claim they could not leave their Bridlington home for four days due to two aggressive seagulls guarding their chick. Mrs Freeman, of Vernon Road, said: "I was held hostage in the house, too afraid to go out for four days.

"It was absolutely terrifying for us. I felt like a prisoner in my own home."

The seagulls' chick had fallen into Mrs Freeman's garden from their nest on her roof. She says they would squawk and behave aggressively whenever she or her brother stepped into the garden.
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Wolf

Wolf found in Netherlands for the first time in over 140 years


newsdaily.com
Wed, 07 Aug 2013 06:23 UTC
Image
© Johannes Jansson/norden.org Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus)
The first wolf found in the Netherlands in over 140 years walked there freely from eastern Europe, scientists said Wednesday, dismissing allegations its body had been dumped as joke.

The female wolf has mystified the Netherlands since its body was found by the roadside near the tiny village of Luttelgeest in the north of the country in July.

Some had even suggested that eastern European agricultural workers employed in the Netherlands had brought the wolf from their home country in order to confound the Dutch.

But now a bevvy of Dutch scientific and wildlife groups have come together to establish the truth.

The Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) said in a statement after a press conference that "the wolf died from a heavy blow to the head, apparently from being hit by a car."
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Question

Dead birds fall 'like raindrops' In Winnipeg's North End


The Huffington Post
Thu, 08 Aug 2013 03:57 UTC
Image
Animal experts are trying to figure out what may have killed dozens of black birds that fell from the sky in Winnipeg's North End on Wednesday.

Conservation officers have picked up more than 50 dead birds near the intersection of King Street and Dufferin Avenue, while the Winnipeg Humane Society took in 11 birds that were still alive.

Erika Anseeuw, the humane society's director of animal health, said all the living birds were reasonably bright and active, although they cannot stand or fly.


The birds will be euthanized and sent to a pathology lab for autopsies.

Anseeuw would not speculate on what exactly may have killed the birds, but she suspects they may have accidentally gotten into something.

"My suspicion is this is what it's going to be rather than any kind of apocalyptic foretelling of birds falling from the sky," she said in an interview with CBC Radio's Up to Speed program.

Possible factors may include exposure to disease or toxins, Anseeuw said.
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Question

Feds investigating large dolphin die-off on east coast

Douglas Main
LiveScience
Thu, 08 Aug 2013 14:28 UTC
Dolphins
© Chris Johnson – earthOCEANA large number of bottlenose dolphins have washed ashore dead on the Mid-Atlantic Coast since early July.
An unusually large number of bottlenose dolphins are washing up on the shores of the Mid-Atlantic U.S. Coast, most of them already dead. Federal scientists have declared it an "unusual mortality event" and are investigating the cause.

The number of dolphins stranded in July is more than seven times higher than average, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a conference call today (Aug. 8).

The strandings began at the beginning of July, and have accelerated in the past two weeks, said Teri Rowles, National Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator with NOAA Fisheries.

Higher-than-average levels of dolphin strandings have been seen in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, scientists said. In July, a total of 89 dolphins were stranded in these areas. As of yesterday (Aug. 7), a total of 35 strandings have occurred already in the month of August.

Although the cause is not yet known, the primary suspect is morbillivirus, an infectious pathogen, Rowles said. One dead dolphin has tested positive for this virus, she added.
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Arrow Down

Maharashtra: Stray dogs found eating abandoned newborn girl's body


Hindustan Times
Wed, 07 Aug 2013 06:57 UTC
Stray dogs were found gnawing at the body of an abandoned newborn girl on the government medical college premises in Yavatmal, a senior official said here on Wednesday.

"On Sunday evening, some people noticed that some stray dogs were eating the body of the newborn girl on the college premises. The mutilated body was recovered from the spot and immediately sent for post-mortem," Medical Superintendent Dr Kishor Ingole told PTI.

He said that they were clueless about who dumped the body of the infant on the college premises.

"Somebody from outside must have dumped the deceased girl on the hospital premises. The campus is spread over 120 hectares and hence it is difficult to keep a tab on the visitors," Ingole said.

An FIR was registered in this connection and probes are on to trace her parents.

Ingole informed that a similar incident had taken place on the campus earlier.

Source: Press Trust India
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Attention

Snake slips out of French postal packet


Daily Times, Pakistan
Thu, 11 Jul 2013 13:35 UTC
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A French post office employee had the fright of her life when a metre-long python slithered quietly out of a parcel and rubbed against her.

The woman was alone in the post office in the village of Blenod-les-Pont-a-Mousson in eastern France, when she felt the chilling caress and screamed for help.

Firemen caught the fugitive reptile and discovered a second one in the parcel. The pair was identified by a vet as ball pythons - non-aggressive snakes that coil up into a tight ball when threatened - and was donated to a nearby zoo.

"They're not dangerous but they're very impressive," an officer said. Ball pythons are popular with snake enthusiasts as pets but are also a protected species for which owners need a legal certificate stating they have not been taken from the wild.

Customs officers raided the home address of the parcel's sender, where they found no certificates but two other snakes, a stuffed caiman and a stuffed turtle which the owner had been trying to sell over the Internet. The post office stressed that its terms and conditions clearly forbade the shipping of animals, live or dead.

Source: Reuters
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Attention

Australian police find 5.7m python in Queensland shop


BBC
Wed, 10 Jul 2013 13:25 UTC
Image
© PAThe huge python was spotted the day after the break-in by terrified shop workers
A 5.7m (19ft) python has been seized after it fell from the ceiling of a charity shop in Australia.

The python, weighing 17kg (37lbs), was recovered by a snake-handler after police investigated a suspected break-in at the shop in Ingham, Queensland.

"Its head was the size of a small dog," said police spokesman Sgt Don Auld.

The snake fell through a ceiling panel, smashing shop goods. Police said it may have got in through the roof, which was damaged by Cyclone Yasi in 2011.

When police were initially called to the property on Monday, they believed a person had fallen through the ceiling because the roof panel had been cut in half.

Crockery, clothes and other goods were scattered all over the floor.

Police were called back to the shop the following day when a large crowd formed outside.

Sgt Auld said the snake must have been hiding when police went there the first time.

It has been released in nearby wetlands.
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