November 24, 2014 - EARTH -
The following constitutes the latest reports of unusual and symbolic
animal behavior, mass die-offs, beaching and stranding of mammals, and
the appearance of rare creatures.
Massive die off of fish found in the Araguari River, Brazil
The
Araguari River, which once impressed with its majestic phenomenon known
as tidal bore, today suffers from a possibility of extinction. Negative points that contribute to the river has a drastic reduction in the volume of water.
And with the drought comes another obstacle: the death of fish in large
scale, damaging those living fish and use the river too much.
The silting of the mouth of the Araguari River and the end of the tidal bore are getting closer.
The tidal bore phenomenon is produced by the encounter of river
currents with oceanic waters of the Araguari River with the Amazon
River. Considered the largest wave in
extension of the world today can only be surfed on the banks of the
Maraca Island and Rio Livramento, in the municipality of Amapá.
The Araguari River is the largest in volume of water, width and length
of Amapá, but silting decreased both the depth of the river, which is
now no longer possible to see the Pororoca phenomenon. Now, the fish deaths on site is the phenomenon that draws attention.
The effects of processing that carries the human being as much about
the environment, and on the biotope or biomass now reach the aquatic
fauna. And this recent environmental problem reaches the Amapá an overwhelming way.
The appearance of dead fish in the bed of the Rio Araguari is worrying
fishermen, county residents Ferreira Gomes, distant 137 km from Macapa.
The fact is since the beginning of August this year at a stretch near the construction of a hydroelectric plant.
The killing has been the focus of protests against the company Ferreira
Gomes Energy, the executive company of the work, and research by the
Institute of Environment and Spatial Planning (Imap). The company claims that the problem has nothing to do with the dam.
Residents report that the event is becoming commonplace and quantities
of dead fish has been increasing, the stench and the presence of
vultures are constant on the edge of town during this period. People are afraid to consume the fish purchased in the river, harming small-scale fishing and the local economy.
The Geographer Gesiel de Souza Oliveira, an expert in Amapá geography, says there is a danger when you build a dam.
"The dam construction affects the natural reproductive cycle of many
species of fish in spawning usually climb upstream for spawning and
reproduction. The construction and the
use of turbines dam disrupts this natural process, the pressures that
occur with the fish as they pass by the dam can cause barotrauma,
generating the death of them. The
plant has legal advice not to drive the turbines above the allowed
limit, especially during the fish breeding period, when huge schools go
upriver to breed, "says via text published on blog.
The Imap issued in August a preliminary report that also did not detect
the contamination, but according to the technical director of the
institute, the opinion is not definitive because the Rio Araguari
present great power of dilution water. The local fishermen are scared by what happened. The work has Operating License (LO) dated July 17 and is expected to become operational in January 2015.
The fishermen have no doubt that chemicals are being played by the dam on the river bed, but nothing has been confirmed so far.
There are reports of employees of the company that was made a clean
(inside the hydroelectric) in August with soap, battery solution and
other products, which could have caused carnage in the nearby dam. According to residents of the area, the species most affected fish were acari, cub and peacock bass. - Journal do DIA. [Translated]
500 dead sea lions found on Peru beach
About
500 decomposing remains of sea lions have been found off a beach in
Peru. The cause of the mass deaths is not yet clear, however, the local
governor blames marine farmers and fishermen in poisoning the animals.
The
bodies of both adult and pup sea lions were found on the coast of Santa
province, Ancash Region in northern Peru, environmental police told the
Peruvian Andina news. The beach lies 400km north of the country’s
capital, Lima.
The governor of the local Samanco district wrote a
complaint to police authorities claiming that the animals had been
poisoned by local marine farmers and fisherman who collect shellfish on
the beach.
The marine mammals used to come closer to the seaside searching for sea food and scallops.
 |
| AFP Photo / Pablo Porciuncula |
The
city workers dragged the corpses away to the municipal dump as they
posed a threat to the public health. The bodies were so decomposed that
police said it was difficult to determine the cause of death.
Santa city officials, prosecutors and Production Ministry officials promised an investigation into the deaths anyway.
In
early November at least 187 another dead bodies of sea lions were found
in the northwestern Piura Region of Peru. They were discovered along
with the carcasses of dolphins, sea turtles and pelicans.
In
October Aldo Aguirre, the head of the Illescas nature reserve in
northwestern Peru, said the authorities found 117 dead seals. He said
the animals might have died due to starvation.
"If you look at
the last two years, and there was a high and abnormal number of
strandings in summer, between the months of February and March, and it
did the same in the year 2014, but assume that this phenomenon was
ahead, as it should occur in the first months of 2015," said Aguirre.
-
RT.
Unusually high number of snowy owls migrate early to Wisconsin
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| Snowy owls, such as this one spotted in the Milwaukee area in 2012, have arrived again in the state. |
Several strong cold fronts in November helped deliver a wintry landscape to Wisconsin earlier than many would have liked.
If you're looking for a positive, here's one: the new whiteness isn't just snow.
At least 31 snowy owls have been recorded in Wisconsin this month,
according to Ryan Brady, research scientist with the Department of
Natural Resources and bird monitoring coordinator for the Wisconsin Bird
Conservation Initiative.
Like the early snow accumulation, the number of owls is unusually high for this time of year, according to Brady.
"It's probably a record," Brady said. "Thankfully, it's the kind of record that doesn't require shoveling and plowing."
The
number of snowies in Wisconsin this month is even more extraordinary
considering last year - which featured the largest number of the birds
in the U.S. in decades - only one snowy owl had been seen in the Badger State by mid-November.
Snowy owls are large, charismatic birds that breed in the Arctic in
summer and disperse in varying degrees to the south in winter.
In some years, particularly when production of young is high, thousands
of owls will fly south and spend winter in the U.S. Such mass movements
are termed "irruptions."
The winter of 2013-'14 was the largest snowy owl irruption of the last 50 years, according to bird researchers.
About 300 individual snowies were observed in Wisconsin last year, most on record, Brady said.
Scientists took advantage of last year's irruption to start
Project SNOWstorm,
a testing and tracking study of snowy owls. Twenty-two owls - including
four in Wisconsin - were fitted with sophisticated transmitters to
allow researchers to follow the birds' movements around the clock.
The transmitters use cellphone technology to transmit data. When the
birds are out of cellphone range, the device collects data until it can
be downloaded. Researchers are eagerly awaiting the return of birds that
flew north last spring and the expected "data dump."
Snowy
owls have been seen at locations in about the northern half of Wisconsin
this month. The southernmost observations were in Columbia and Dodge
counties as of last weekend. That is expected to change in the coming
days and weeks.
Since the birds often have little fear of
humans, people who see snowy owls should stay a respectful distance away
and not affect the animal's behavior. The birds mostly prey on rodents
and birds.
Given the early sightings of snowy owls, is this winter shaping up to be another record irruption?
"Snowy owls have proven me wrong many times, so I'm not making any
predictions," Brady said. "What's cool about these birds is they draw so
much interest from so many people, and that helps people realize the
value of research and programs to benefit wildlife."
Observations of snowy owls in Wisconsin can be made on
Wisconsin eBird at www.ebird.org/content/wi/ or by email to ryan.brady -
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
150 kg wild boar attacks sanitation workers, rams police car, China
A
150kg wild boar attacked four sanitation workers in a row while they
were crossing a traffic junction in Hefei city of Anhui province
yesterday afternoon.
Among the four workers,
two were wounded and had been taken to hospital for treatment, 21CN reported.
Soon after its arrival, the wild animal began ramming into the police car.
It subsequently fled away to a factory and got stuck in a wire fence.
After an hour of "hide and seek", the police eventually shot the boar to
death.
Earlier this month,
a Fujian policeman shot a passerby while attempting to take down a boar. Ever earlier in October,
a writer in Xi'an was besieged by three boars on mountain when he was seeking inspiration for his writing. -
Shanghaiist.
15 dog attacks reported in Ohio over the past year, 4 involving fatalities
This past year (December 2013 to November 2014), various media have reported 15 dog attacks throughout Ohio.
There were likely many more dog bite incidents, but the ones listed below received the publicity.
Four
people, two of which were infants and two women in their late fifties,
died from the injuries they received from the dog attacks.
Of the 25 dogs identified by breed in the attacks, 9 were believed to be Pit Bulls and five were Rottweilers.
A month-to-month tracking of the various dog attacks is as follows:
DECEMBER 2013
A three-month-old Columbus, Ohio girl died after she accidentally
rolled onto the floor while her parents were sleeping and was attacked
by a pair of Shiba Inus who police said may have thought the infant was a
toy.
JANUARY 2014
A Cleveland Metro School District police officer shot two Rottweilers
who attacked a man. Around January 13, a pit bull who attacked a
six-year-old Lorain, Ohio boy was tasered by police four times, then
shot. On January 29 a three-month-old was mauled by a dog, but the baby
survived the attack.
FEBRUARY 2014
On February 21, a Cincinnati, Ohio woman was attacked by a dog. Efforts
to help her were unsuccessful and someone shot and killed the animal.
The woman survived. Earlier that month on February 7, a 57-year-old
Dayton, Ohio woman was killed by her neighbors' two dogs. One was
identified as part Cane Corso. The woman had complained to authorities
numerous times about the animals to no avail. Her neighbors were charged
with reckless homicide.
APRIL 2014
A child in Lorain, Ohio was attacked by two dogs while visiting her
grandparents on April 27. On April 29 in Columbus, a 7-year-old boy had
to have his ear reattached after being attacked by three Rottweilers. A
few days earlier, three people were taken to the hospital after a dog
attacked them in northwest Columbus.
MAY 2014
A 71-year-old Columbus, Ohio woman was attacked by two pit bulls outside her home and was severely bitten on her legs.
JUNE 2014
A six-year-old Cincinnati area child was attacked by two pit bulls on
June 4. Her grandfather said they "tore off her face." She was taken to a
hospital in critical condition.
JULY 2014
On July 21, a seven-month-old boy from Montgomery County was killed by an American Staffordshire Terrier.
AUGUST 2014
A 59-year-old Madison Twp. Woman was killed by her daughter's pit bull.
On Aug. 21 two people were attacked by two pit bulls while walking in
northwest Columbus.
NOVEMBER 2014
Police shot two pit bull dogs in Columbus after they attacked four people in the south Linden area of the city on November 15.
The
17barks.blogspot, whose author does not believe the pit bull should be promoted as a family pet, claims,
as of early 2014, pit bulls had committed 100 attacks on humans throughout North America. Since 1982 there have reportedly been 2,890 pit bulls attacks with 269 of them resulting in death. The blog's author does not blame the pit bulls, however. He says the dogs are doing
"precisely what hundreds of years of purposeful breeding has given them the drive, the instinct and the incentive to do."
If you are attacked and injured by a dog, it is important to seek
immediate medical treatment and to find out how long you will be under a
doctor's care. Keep a record of your medical treatment and take photos
of your bites if you can. You should also find out who owns the dog that
hurt you and if the animal has had a recent rabies shot.
For
more information about dog bites in Ohio including a checklist of what
you should do after a dog attack and a free book about Ohio dog bite
laws, please visit
dogbitesohio.com.
-
Cleveland.
More aggressive wild turkey attacks reported in Brookline, Massachusetts
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| © Samantha Leon |
The animals have reportedly attacked a group of students, a crossing guard, and residents across town in recent weeks.
Thanksgiving? Not according to wild turkeys roaming Brookline.
There have been more reports of turkeys attacking people in town in
recent weeks - continuing what has become a semiannual tradition.
WHDH reported turkeys have attacked a group of students, a crossing guard, and residents across town.
"There
was like six or seven of them, and as I went around the mailbox they
went around and they started chasing me into the street and I screamed
for help," Marilyn Carmona told WHDH. "It was very scary."
Police receive calls about aggressive turkeys every few weeks. The birds have been known to
charge at people and try to claw their faces.
In 2011, a Brookline Patch reader
chronicled his efforts to fend off an aggressive turkey.
The turkeys are frequently seen near Brookline High School.
State wildlife officials say people should act aggressively if
confronted by a turkey and make loud noises or swat at the animal with a
broom. A dog on a leash can also scare away the birds. -
Brookline Patch.
Night attacks by pack of hyenas results in 2 dead and 13 injured, Sudan
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| File Photo: Striped Hyena- believed to be the species implicated in the Rumbek attacks |
Hyenas attacked 4 villages
in Rumbek Central County on Thursday night, killing two people and
leading to a further 13 people being admitted to Rumbek Hospital in a
serious condition, suffering from bite wounds.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) confirmed the incident. An
officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that 13 people had
been admitted in Rumbek hospital and two people had died. He also
confirmed that one hyena was killed while attacking the project
development unit (PDU) on Thursday night, while another is still at
large and being pursued by armed men. He said that the animals had
attacked a number of villages, including Pankar, Malou-jech and
Abinajok.
"[these are] shameful attacks made by hyenas - we
have 12 people suffering from hyena bite being admitted in Rumbek
hospital and 2 elderly people are dead. Those bitten by these hyenas are
women, elderly people and children", continued the officer.
Despite the obvious concern of the officer interviewed, the attacks have
led to some criticism of the security forces in the state. Local
community activist, Moses Majok, said that they suggest that police and
armed forces in Rumbek are not sufficiently concerned with the
well-being of the public.
"This is very bad...how come hyenas
tour villages the whole night biting people and [there is] no response
from army or police to protect innocent people from hyenas?" said Majok.
Although they are skilled pack predators and possess among the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom,
hyenas are generally timid around people, particularly
individual animals. However, packs do occasionally attack and kill
humans. Victims are usually, as apparently in the latest attacks,
children, the elderly or otherwise incapacitated individuals.
People sleeping outside their dwellings are especially vulnerable, as
the creatures are strongly nocturnal. Grouped series of attacks, carried
out by a single pack over a brief period of time, have also been
reported in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. -
Gurtong.
