Animals
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Minnesota, US: Bear with jar on head shot dead

Jessica Salter
The Telegraph
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:08 UTC
A hungry bear was shot dead by wildlife officials after getting its head stuck in a plastic jar and wandering into a busy town.

Image
©AP
A wild black bear whose head got stuck inside a 2-gallon clear plastic jug

The wild black bear is thought to have been foraging for food when its head became stuck inside a 2.5 gallon (9.5 litre) clear plastic jar that usually holds sweets or popcorn.

The two-year-old animal could breathe but could not eat or drink and was probably suffering from dehydration and hunger.
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Bizarro Earth

Florida: Family dog dies after suffering more than 1,000 bee stings

Bea Karnes
Associated Press
Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:39 UTC
A painful sting for a Florida family whose beloved dog was attacked and killed by a swarm of bees. It happened in Largo, Florida Monday and authorities say the day's overcast skies may have stirred up the bee hive.

Image
©Unknown
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Magnify

Stranded: A whale of a mystery

Rachel Ehrenberg
Science News
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:03 UTC
Scientists generally agree that sonar can trigger strandings of certain whales, but no one really knows what leads these deep divers to the beach.

Off the eastern edge of Andros Island lies the Tongue of the Ocean, a hundred-mile, inky blue swathe of sea over the Great Bahama Canyon. Bounded on the south and east by the shallow sands of the Bahamas banks, the seafloor drops precipitously from 3 meters near shore to more than 2,000 meters farther out.

While the region boasts a colorful history of pirates and shipwrecks, scientists will head there this summer seeking treasure of a different sort: beaked whales, some of the deepest diving and least known animals on Earth. The research aims to solve one of the most contentious mysteries in marine biology today  -  the relationship between military sonar and stranded, dying whales.
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Question

Piglet born with "monkey's face"


Ananova
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:00 UTC


Piglet Monkey
©Unknown

Curious locals flocked to the home of owner Feng Changlin after news of the piglet spread in Fengzhang village, Xiping township.

"It's hideous. No one will be willing to buy it, and it scares the family to even look at it!" Feng told Oriental Today. He says the piglet looks just like a monkey, with two thin lips, a small nose and two big eyes. Its rear legs are also much longer than its forelegs, causing it to jump instead of walk.

Feng's wife said the monkey-faced piglet was one of five newborns of a sow which the family had raised for nine years. "My God, it was so scary. I didn't known what it was. I was really frightened," she said. "But our son likes to play with it, and he stopped us from getting rid of it. He even feeds it milk."

Neighbours have suggested the couple keep the piglet to see how it looks as it matures.
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Alarm Clock

Mexico finds dozens of dead sea turtles


Associated Press
Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:08 UTC
ACAPULCO - Environmental officials in Mexico say dozens of dead sea turtles apparently killed in fishing nets have washed up on beaches in recent days.
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Attention

How a tiny bug is ravaging Colorado's forests

Jim Moscou
Associated Press
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:12 UTC


Image
©Ed Andrieski / AP (left); Jen Chase / Colorado State Forest Service-AP
Tiny Pest, Big Damage: About the size of a grain of rice, the mountain pine beetle (left) is destroying great swaths of pine trees in Colorado (reddish brown areas at right)

Summer at Colorado's Beaver Creek Resort is usually a time of hot days, cool nights, verdant views and the peaceful sound of the Rocky Mountains. Not this year. The area's idyllic silence is being disturbed by the sound of chainsaws cutting down large swaths of dead or dying trees in this gated community. "We have no illusions, no choice," says Tony O'Rourke, executive director of Beaver Creek's Home Owners Association. "We can't stem the tide." O'Rourke's dire tone comes from the resort's lost battle with a bug--the mountain pine beetle--that is destroying much of Beaver Creek's lush green vistas and reducing them to barren brown patches.

After ravaging 22 million acres of pine trees in Canada over the last 12 years, the rice-sized insects have been feasting their way southward. Their favorite meal: the majestic lodgepole pine, which makes up 8 percent of Colorado's 22 million acres of forests. Before landing in Beaver Creek, the pine beetles tore through neighboring Vail, Winter Park, Breckenridge and several areas around Steamboat Springs. So far, say state foresters, the beetles have eaten through 1.5 million acres, about 70 percent of the all the state's lodgepole pines. The tree's entire population will be wiped out in the next few years, Colorado state foresters predict, leaving behind a deforested area about the size of Rhode Island.
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Info

Unknown disease killing off Florida's state tree


Associated Press
Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:05 UTC


Image
©Wilfredo Lee/AP
The sabal palm, Florida's state tree, is under attack by a microscopic killer that has scientists mystified.

MIAMI - The sabal palm, Florida's state tree, is under attack by a microscopic killer that has scientists stumped.

An unknown but growing number of sabal palms in the Tampa Bay area have died from a mysterious disease that researchers are struggling to identify. Even after scientists pinpoint the disease - and that could take years - they will have to learn what insect spreads it. The disease will be tough to stop.

"It's not simply a matter that we will be able to eradicate," said Monica Elliott, a University of Florida plant pathologist. "That's not very likely."
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Attention

Bear mauls girl during mountain bike race


Associated Press
Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:35 UTC
Anchorage, AK - A 14-year-old girl riding in a mountain bike race was attacked in the dark of night by a bear Sunday and severely injured, but she was able to make a brief 911 call that eventually resulted in her rescue.

The girl suffered head, neck, torso and leg wounds. She underwent surgery and was in critical condition Sunday afternoon at Providence Alaska Medical Center, police said.
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Attention

Grizzly bear attacks woman in Alaska


Associated Press
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:33 UTC
Anchorage - A 21-year-old woman was attacked by a grizzly bear about 25 yards from an Alaskan lodge.

Abby Sisk, of Utah, was attacked late Wednesday as she returned from a hike to the Kenai Princess Lodge in Cooper Landing.

Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said a guest at the lodge saw the bear on top of Sisk, a seasonal worker, and ran outside to help. Ipsen says the guest scared the bear off.
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Kamchatka: Bears besiege Russian mine after killing guards

Tony Halpin
The Times
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:14 UTC
Terrified workers at a mining compound in one of Russia's most isolated regions are refusing to go to work after a pack of giant bears attacked and ate two of their colleagues.

At least 30 of the hungry animals have been seen prowling close to the mines in northern Kamchatka in search of food, where the mangled remains of the two workers, both guards, were found last week.

The co-workers at the compound in the Olyotorsky district are trapped and frightened: the gruesome discovery has left them too scared to venture out. A team of snipers, with orders to shoot the bears, is now being dispatched to confront the invasion after government officials authorised an off-season hunt.
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