January 26, 2016 - ARGENTINA - An invasion of poisonous snakes washed downriver in recent floods forced
authorities to close beaches to summer holidaymakers in northern
Argentina, officials said on Monday.
Floodwaters in the Rio Plata and Rio Parana carried a species of water
lily and with it countless crawling, slithering creatures, south to
beaches at the mouths of those rivers near Buenos Aires.
"We are raising awareness of the risk and danger present today. There
are otters and species of snakes that are poisonous," said Matias Leyes,
an official in the coastal town of Quilmes, south of the capital.
"The beaches of Quilmes have been closed as a precaution. We were
cleaning up the coast during the week and while doing so we saw the
snakes under the water lilies."Inland river beaches were also closed over the weekend in the northern city of Rosario, Santa Fe province.
Locals there spotted displaced animals such as otters, a wild boar and a fox cub as well as snakes, scorpions and stinging insects.
Water covered the beaches and even the terraces of seaside barsin Rosario, as summer temperatures reached 40°C.
"It is dangerous because when there is not much beach there is more risk
of coming into direct contact with rodents or snakes, whose dens are
all flooded," said Gonzalo Ratner, a top civil defence official in
Rosario.
Experts have blamed severe flooding in recent weeks in Argentina,
Paraguay and Uruguay on the El Nino extreme weather phenomenon. - News 24.
March 3, 2015 - 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.
Hundreds of dead fish found in Columbia River in Portland, United States
Dead fish on Sauvie Island beaches caused people to wonder what was
happening. These are smelt that have washed ashore after spawning
recently,
seen along the shore of the Columbia River on Sauvie Island on
March 2, 2015. Mike Zacchino/Staff
Residents of North Portland's Bridgeton neighborhood along the Columbia River reported waking to a disturbing sight Sunday.
Heide Island, who lives in a floating home on the river, said she took her dogs for a walk about 8:30 a.m. and found hundreds of dead fish at the water's edge.
The fish, which bore the appearance of baby salmon, were floating on the water and covering the beach, she said. In her seven years in the neighborhood, Island said, she'd never seen something like this.
Jessica Sall, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the deaths were likely natural: an influx of smelt, a small fish, that dies after spawning.
"We've had a good run of smelt coming into the river," she said.
Because there was no immediate cause for concern, the department had not sent a biologist to the scene, Sall said.
WATCH: Countless smelt washed ashore along the Columbia River on Sauvie Island after spawning, March 2, 2015.
They spend a handful of years in saltwater before returning to freshwater to spawn from late winter and into spring, and most adults perish after spawning.
Sall could not say why the fish were seen in droves at this part of the river, but she said the deaths did not seem unusual.The river patrol division of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office agreed that a smelt die-off was the likely explanation. - Oregon Live.
3 dead sperm whales wash ashore within 3 days in Tamil Nadu, India
The
washing ashore of three sperm whales in the last three days has taken
fishermen and marine researchers along the east coast by surprise.
While the first dead whale was found near Puducherry on Friday, a
second carcass was located at Alambaraikuppam near Marakkanam on
Saturday with the third being found at Uyyalikuppam near Kalpakkam on
Sunday.
The stranded whale at Uyyalikuppam was a male measuring
50 feet in length and weighing nearly 4 tonnes. The carcass found on
Saturday at Alambaraikuppam was that of a female sperm whale which
measured 35 feet and weighed nearly 3 tonnes. Both died of injuries
suffered on the tail after getting entangled in large nets near the sea
surface, said researchers.
Supraja Dharini of TREE Foundation,
who visited Uyyalikuppam village, said the flipper of the dead whale was
52 inches long and 30 inches wide, the short dorsal fin was two feet
wide -- measurements which indicate that it was full grown adult male.
The carcass, which bore superficial injuries, had begun to decompose
badly when washed ashore. Oil globules were found all over the dorsal
side of the body, she said.
S
Venkataraman, director, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), told TOI that
often earthquakes under the sea could disorient these deep sea mammals
forcing them to move towards the sea surface where they could have swum
into nets and died.With its large population of squids
and flow of water currents, the Bay of Bengal region is believed to be a
breeding ground for sperm whales though no proper study has been done
on this, he said.
But P Dhandapani, formerly with ZSI,
suspected the death due to infighting between the older mammals and the
young ones. "Certain aspects of the whale's behaviour have not been
observed and recorded so far. So it would be difficult to ascertain the
exact cause of death," he said.
Sperm whales are one of the
biggest and powerful aquatic mammals with a close and complex social
structure. They can dive up to 2,000 metres and can hold their breath
for two hours. Due to their deep diving capabilities, they frequently
hunt giant squids. Spermaceti, an oily substance found in large
quantities inside the mammal's head, was used to make candles in the
18th and 19th centuries. Ambergris, another substance, was used to make
perfumes. Extraction of both are banned now. - The Times of India.
Family pit bull severely mauls woman in Pinole, California
A family pet
A
Pinole woman was being treated for life-threatening injuries Sunday
after she was attacked and mauled by the family's pet pit bull,
investigators said.
The 40-year-old resident was attacked
inside the home on Silverado Drive, in the Pinole Valley area shortly
before 10 a.m. and bitten on her legs, arms and face. Pinole police were
able to secure the animal in the back yard before Pinole Fire
Department paramedics administered "advanced life support" treatment.
The
woman's wounds were so severe that she had to be flown by helicopter to
the trauma center at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek,said
Steve Akre, the Pinole Fire battalion chief. He said there was a male
resident inside the home at the time of the attack, but he was not
injured.
"It's
a tragedy for all involved," said Akre, who did not know what prompted
the attack. "Our understanding is that the dog was a family pet that
lived at the home with the victim."
The woman,
whose name was not released, was being treated at John Muir on Sunday
night for lacerations to her face, both arms and both legs, Akre said.
The dog was brought to Contra Costa County Animal Services. - San Francisco Gate.
Hundreds of hibernating snakes disturbed by construction workers in Delta, British Columbia
Close
to 500 garter snakes are getting settled in a new winter home, after
their hibernation den was disturbed by construction in Delta, B.C.
Residents alerted crews reinforcing the dike near Beach Grove this week that there was a ball of sleeping snakes under some rocks, reported The Vancouver Sun.
Biologists were called in to rescue the serpents, who were then brought
to the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. (WRA), said the group's
Facebook page.
The snakes are cozy in groups of 20 in plastic
tubs with damp wood shavings and a dish of distilled water, said the
WRA. During hibernation, known as brumation, snakes drop their body
temperature so they don't have to use much energy.
"We don't
have to feed them ... they just need to be kept cool and they should be
happy in the tubs," WRA spokeswoman Yolanda Brooks told the Sun.
The serpents will be released back into their habitat around April.
The rescue centre only sees one or two snakes every year, but Janelle
VanderBeek of the WRA told CBC: "They are actually really cute for
snakes. - Huffington Post.
Oil storage tank leak near Yakima River in Washington State poses threat to animals and crops
As
much as 1,500 gallons of used motor oil leaked from an above-ground
storage tank in Washington state into a creek that flows into the Yakima
River, vital to the apple-growing state's agricultural hub, officials
said on Monday.
The cause of the spill on Sunday from the tank
at a former feed lot near Sunnyside, about 170 miles southeast of
Seattle, was under investigation.
Department of Ecology spokeswoman Joye Redfield-Wilder said the oil posed a threat to otters, waterfowl and fish as well as orchards and other crops in the area.
"In a couple of weeks, the canals will all be full and (farmers) will
be watering their crops and their orchards, so we want to get this
cleaned up," Redfield-Wilder said.
The Washington state
Department of Ecology said its workers installed absorbent pads and
protective booms at several sites, including about 900 feet upstream of
the mouth of Sulphur Creek and at a fish hatchery on the Yakima River
after Sunday's spill.
The slick could be seen in the water as far as 15 miles southeast of Sunnyside, the state said on Monday.
NRC Environmental Services, which the state hired to handle the cleanup, was using vacuum trucks to remove oil.
The
Yakima River is an important water source for farm irrigation in south
central Washington state. It is also a renowned trout fishing river. - Reuters.
Mass die off of fish and reptiles due to burst fuel pipe in Tabasco, Mexico
A week after the explosion rollover pipe, operations coordinator of the Institute of Civil Protection, recognized that the fire
and spill caused indirect and consequential damage. Photo: Reform
The
spilled thousands of gallons of jet fuel explosion left a pipe Simsa
Group company, on Saturday, sparking death of fish and turtles in an
area of two hectares covered by the Laguna El Camarón Ecological Park
and an area of bulrushes surrounding.
In
one documented by the newspaper Reforma in the disaster area at the
beginning of the federal Villahermosa Escárcega (Campeche) road, two
kilometers from the city, travel iridescence fuel was found in the
lagoon, hundreds of fish of the species castarrica snakes dead and charred between contaminated water.
The day of the accident, the attention of the State Civil Protection
focused on controlling the fire, which delayed nearly two hours, and
rescue the driver dual pipe remoque, carrying 67,000 liters of jet fuel.
However, a week before the explosion rollover pipe, Manuel Alarcon,
operations coordinator of the Institute of Civil Protection, recognized
that the fire and jet fuel spill caused many indirect and consequential
damage.
Alarcón
said that aside from the expertise of federal transit, the day after
the accident, established communication with Simsa and its insurer,
which undertook to respond attention to contingency, and assessing and
repairing environmental damage through two private companies.
"The
jet fuel was dammed in two bodies of water, which were affected in its
ecosystem, first by the fire that burned the vegetation consists of
bulrushes and then by pollution, which caused fish kills, as castarrica,
and turtles, as pochitoques, Guaos, snakes and iguanas, "said David Silva Castillo, chief of brigade Nouvotek.
"As far we have come in the work of delimitation of damage caused by
the explosion, keep finding dead species and other still alive," said
Silva.
Alarcon said that to avoid an increased risk of contamination of jet
fuel, at a lower area adjacent to the lagoon, was closed sewer water
passing beneath the federal highway.
He warned that both the report's attention to contingency by Nouvotek,
as the results of an audit entrusted to another private company, will
join the investigations conducted by the Federal Attorney for
Environmental Protection (Profepa).
"The
insurer is Simsa which will cover all costs of care to contingency, and
potential environmental penalties to be imposed on the conveyor by this
explosion," said Silva Castillo. - Terra. [Translated]
November 14, 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.
Hundreds of dead fish found floating in a canal in Escuintla, Guatemala
LA
Gomera, Escuintla - Hundreds of dead fish were found in the Acome and
Chiquimulilla Canal River in the village Paredón, La Gomera, Escuintla,
so that neighbors call on the authorities to investigate the cause for
which they died. Photo: Melvin Sandoval.
Sabino Ixquereu, Representative Subsistence Fishermen's Association of that place, said hedid not rule out the case of water poisoning,
caused by harvest and vinasse in Acome river, "We ask the authorities
to take water samples and dead to find those responsible and punish them
fish, "said Ixquereu. The representative of the Association of Fishermen of Subsistence, condemned the killing of fish and said more than 1 000 200 families living from fishing will be affected,for large and small fish died all the species living in the river, also expressed fear that an epidemic occurs because many people are picking fish for sale in local markets,and it urges the authorities to intervene. "We live on fishing and tourism, we do not know how long it will be contaminated water, as this one red and smells bad, several tourists have left the place because of the problem," said Saul Hernandez, fisherman. Hernandez added that species are dead snappers, Robalos, Mojarra, Juilin, Tilapia, Mackerel, Old, Crab, Crab, Shrimp, Pupo Black and White,
the river flows into the Canal Chiquimulilla, and this is connected
with the sea, so it is possible that other species die in the sea.
Residents engaged in fishing in the Canal Chiquimulilla are affected its economy. (Photo Prensa Libre: Melvin Sandoval)
Gather evidence
Francisco Vasquez, mayor of La Gomera, said that by the Municipal Environment Office, testing the water and fish were collectedto
be analyzed in the laboratory of the University of San Carlos, and know
the causes of death, He added that a complaint will in the Public
Ministry, that those responsible be punished after tests analyzed. Ricardo Guillen, General Manager Pantaleon Guatemala, said he should do lab tests to determine the causes,
people say that the water is of a reddish color, this red color gives
it vinasse, but the company Bioethanol, which Pantaleon manages
contracts for vinasse, has not begun work, and wonder why the problem he
said Guillen. Logan Lewis, governor of Escuintla, advised people not to eat fish from there,because they could be contaminated and affect the health of those who consume them, while the causes of death assessed. - Prensa Libre. [Translated]
Carcass of humpback whale found drifting off Perth coast, Australia - 12th report in 2 months of dead cetaceans Down Under
The whale carcass drifting off Perth coast.
A humpback whale carcass is being towed away from the Perth coast after attracting several sharks.
Department of Fisheries spokesman Phil Shaw said sharks were feeding
from the dead humpback whale, measuring more than 10 metres in length.
It was first spotted by the crew of a vessel returning from Rottnest
just before 10am on Monday when it was five nautical miles off the
coast.
The carcass will probably be towed out about 20 miles, depending on swell conditions and available light.
It may break up and drift back towards the coast, Fisheries warned.
Mr Shaw said it was possible the whale carcass would continue to attract sharks.
People are being told to adhere to any beach closures, report shark
sightings to Water Police and regularly check the Surf Life Saving
Twitter account.
Seven News reporter Geof Parry had earlier
tracked the whale remains from a helicopter and said the carcass was
headed for Perth.
WATCH: A second whale carcass spotted off the coast of Perth.
"I don't think there's any doubt that it will head to the coast by the way this swell's running," he said.
"It's proving quite a meal for several sharks. We've just seen the
arrival of a great white, it's a big great white. I believe the whale is
the same as the one from last week, a humpback.
"It's a similar size. But there's no doubt it's floating towards the coast."
The WA government continues to face criticism over its handling of the last whale carcass to wash up in Perth.
The operation to remove the whale remains, dubbed 'Operation Free
Willy', "was executed with military precision," according to City of
Stirling Mayor Giovanni Italiano.
"However, leaving ratepayers
with the clean-up bill is not acceptable in my book and we will be
seeking cost recovery from the state government as well as insisting
they develop an urgent mitigation strategy in consultation with all
other involved agencies," Mayor Giovanni Italiano said.
"It does create danger to beach goers. We also have to consider health
issues. If you've got a drifting whale that has a host of sharks hanging
off it, it will attract sharks to the beach.
"At this point the beaches are open.
"If the tide brings it in, closure of the beach will need to be considered [for] whichever beach it's closest to."
Natalie Banks, chair of the community group No WA Shark Cull Inc, said
drifting whale corpses were part of "a natural occurrence".
"As we see the whale migration ending we are seeing sick and diseased whales that are being followed by the sharks," she said.
"We ask that the community be vigilant in terms of shark activity, especially at this time of year." - Watoday.
More 'rare' urban coyote attacks on Indiana dogs
A
Purdue Animal Hospital veterinarian says fatal coyote attacks on dogs
in cities are uncommon but the clinic has recently seen two such cases.
Veterinarian Steve Thompson tells WLFI-TV that two small dogs -- one in Lafayette and another in Frankfort -- were both attacked within a 24-hour period last week. Both pets had been left outside for short periods of time before the coyote attacks.
Thompson says another dog was attacked by a coyote in rural Tippecanoe County two weeks ago. He says such rural attacks will become more common as winter approaches.
Thompson says food left outside for pets can attract coyotes who may later hunt small pets. - The Indy Channel.
Police hunt for tiger on the loose near Paris theme park
A photo of a tiger roaming free close to Paris was posted to the Facebook page of the nearby town of Ville de Montevrain.
Paris
authorities are on high alert after a tiger was spotted roaming the
outskirts of France’s capital, close to Europe's No. 1 tourist
destination –Disneyland. The experts say the beast weights about 100
kilos.
The tiger was seen in the small town of Montevrain just 37 km from Paris and 9 km from Disneyland, which attracted about 15.65 million people in 2013. “A young tiger was spotted this morning in the woods behind the tennis courts and soccer field,” said a statement on Montevrain’s Facebook page.
The city authorities also posted a photo of the beast reportedly taken by one of the town residents and urged “to exercise caution and not to walk around the perimeter.” “We repeat, avoid walks and travel by vehicle. If you see a tiger, call emergency [services],” said the statement, adding that police and firefighters armed with tranquilizer guns are hunting the predator.
Jean-Baptiste Berdeaux, who has a supermarket in Montevrain, told AFP that his wife “saw it this morning” but first thought it might be “a lynx.” "We have been running after it since this morning, police officers are trying to intercept it," a police source told AFP, "If it's possible, we'll try and put it to sleep. If it becomes dangerous or aggressive, the order will be given to kill it.”
The experts analyzed the paw prints and confirmed that the tiger weighs about 100 kilos, according to Le Parisien.
A statement from Seine-et-Marne department also warned residents of
three neighborhood towns - Montevrain, Chessy and Chalifert – to stay
indoors.
The officials refuted the assumption that the tiger might have arrived from a circus that was in the area last week. “The
circus left on Saturday and during the health inspection before the
event officials did not notice the presence of a tiger,” the mayor’s office told Le Parisien. - RT.
Wild boar smashes into German hardware store
Animal ran full 'boar' into glass doors, breaking through and triggering alarm
Police in Germany came face-to-face with a wild boar after responding to a burglary alarm at a hardware store.
"The
animal apparently ran at full speed against the entrance door of the
large do-it-yourself shop and broke through two glass doors, which triggered the alarm," police spokesman Guido Rehr told NBC News.
Surveillance camera footage captured the animal wandering around the store's aisles.
It escaped "without any loot and apparently unharmed" once officials opened the front doors, police said.
Damages to the store in Dillenburg are estimated at $6,500. - NBC Montana.
Barred owl attacks 6 people, terrorizes others in Jacksonville Beach, Florida
It
is majestic, but it's terrifying. Neighbors in Jacksonville Beach say
something is terrorizing the neighborhood from the sky and even
attacking people. First Coast News reporter, David Williams, and
photographer, Jimmy Marlow, saw the owl first hand.
Jack Weyer, of Jacksonville Beach, said the owl attacked him recently.
"Out
of the blue, it just came right down on the back of my head," He said.
'I just felt like, two talons right on the back of my head, grab and kid
of pull away."
Eight- year-old, Sophia Forte, said she had an owl ordeal of her own 2 weeks ago.
"It flew down and hit my inside my eye and inside my hair and on my forehead," She said, as she described what she says happened to her.
Her father told us he wound up in the emergency room, but she is OK now. So far neighbors told First Coast Newsthe bird has hurt 5 kids plus Weyer. The bird of prey has people on their toes and it has them freaked out.
"They're
nervous," Frank Forte said. He told FCN his daughter was attacked.
"They're going outside...the kids are going out with helmets on.
Umbrellas. Even when I go take the garbage out at night. I got a
cardboard box over my head."
Forte said the owls has terrorized their Jacksonville Beach neighborhood for at least two weeks.
"I talked to Beaks on Friday," Frank Forte said. "They said it was
probably somebody's pet and it was hand-fed. So, it's really not
attacking. It's just looking for somebody to feed it."
Weyer said "I'm just afraid for the kids."
Neither Weyer nor his neighbors want anyone else, or the owl, to get hurt.
"Maybe just taken to a better spot, so it's not dangerous for the kids to be attacked," Weyer suggested.
Neighbors told FCN that Florida Fish and Wildlife and Beaks told them
they would try to get someone out the area to catch the bird.
Karen Parker, a spokesperson for Florida Fish and Wildlife told First
Coast News that FWC is aware of the owl. The agency has gotten several
reports of the owl.
Parker said FWC is trying to contact
someone within a falconry group to go out and try to catch the bird.
Parker said it may sound silly, but the best things people can do until
the situation is solved, is to wear a hard hat or carry an umbrella and
pop the umbrella up so the bird does not see you.
FCN is awaiting comment from Beaks about the owl. - FCN.
Mysterious fungal disease proves deadly in wild snakes
The
female mud snake found May 28 in Georgia had cloudy eyes and patches of
white, thickened scales. A strange, dark-gray material covered the
inside of her mouth, and the skin on the front of her face had peeled
away, leaving behind an angry red mess.
In fact, the deadly
fungus that caused this snake's injuries is killing snakes across the
Midwest and Eastern United States, said Matthew Allender, a clinical
assistant professor of zoo and wildlife medicine at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Little is known about the
condition, which is called snake fungal disease, but researchers are now
investigating how snakes catch it, fight it and can eventually die from
it.
Within the next year, researchers may know more about
antifungal medications, as well as what temperatures might impede the
fungi's growth, Allender said.
Snake fungal disease is thought to be caused by the fungus Ophidiomycesophiodiicola.
It only affects snakes, but some researchers have compared it with
another lethal fungal disease, white nose syndrome, which is killing
bats in the United States, Allender said.
Researchers first saw
the snake fungal disease in a captive black rat snake in Sparta,
Georgia, in 2006. Since then, snake fungal disease has been reported in
snakes in nine states, including Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin,
according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health
Center.
The disease is likely more widespread than what has
been seen so far, and may be in the western United States as well. "My
guess is, the states we haven't found it in, it's because we haven't
been looking," Allender said.
At first, researchers found
infections only in rattlesnakes and other vipers, "which is not good
because those snakes tend to be the most endangered already," Allender
said. But now the disease has also surfaced in nonvenomous snakes,
including snakes that are both solitary and social, which suggests the
animals can catch the disease from each other as well as from fungus in
the soil.
"The infection can start from multiple different routes," Allender said. "They just have to have contact with the fungus."
Researchers have now confirmed the fungal infection in more than 14 species of snakes, including northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon), eastern racers (Coluber constrictor), rat snakes (Pantherophis obsoletus species complex), timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus), massasaugas snakes (Sistrurus catenatus), pygmy rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius) and milk snakes (Lampropeltis triangulum), the National Wildlife Health Center reported.
Like the Georgian mud snake, which was euthanized, snakes with the
fungal disease often have scabs or crusty scales. The outermost layer of
their skin may separate from the underlying skin, even when the snake
is not molting. They may also show cloudy white eyes and swollen faces.
Some snakes don't show disfigurement. For example, some garter snakes
and water snakes only show signs of pneumonia. "When you open them up,
you can see the fungus in the lungs," Allender said.
It's
unclear how widespread the fungus is, or how many snakes it kills
yearly. In one report of 24 cases in massasauga snakes, only one of them
survived, he said. What's more, there are only between 100 and 150
massasaugas left in Illinois, and about 15 percent are infected with the
fungus, he added.
A 2011 study, published in the journal Biological Conservation, linked the fungus with a 50 percent drop in the timber rattlesnake population in New Hampshire between 2006 and 2007.
"It's frustrating because we don't have a lot of the information that we want," Allender said.
He and his colleagues are looking for clues about the disease's
origins. They examined 261 museum snake specimens dating back to 1873.
"From 1873 through 1999, there wasn't a single case," Allender said. But
in samples dating to 2000 and later, the researchers began to find
evidence of the fungus.
The team is also working on a test to
identify the fungus at its early stages, which may help the team members
treat infected snakes, he said. The researchers presented their data in
October at the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians conference in
Orlando, Florida.
As the fungus continues to kill snakes,
ecosystems are likely to take a hit, said John Jensen, a senior wildlife
biologist and herpetologist with the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources.
"People think that they just eat rats and mice,"
Jensen said, but snakes also eat fish and frogs. "And obviously there's
other animals that depend on snakes for prey."
Many snakes are
losing their habitat to urbanization. Venomous snakes often reproduce
every other year or every third year, making it hard for them to
replenish their numbers, especially as more snakes get hit by cars or
catch diseases.
"All of those things knock away at the
sustainability of a population," Allender said. "Not any one thing would
cause it, but when you add it together and you add the catastrophe of
an infectious disease, that's when you start to get the possibility of
an extinction event." - Live Science.
Fed up with clapping for fish? Sea World trainer attacked by sea lion, Australia
A sea lion who didn't take kindly to being weighed has attacked an animal trainer at Sea World on the Gold Coast.
The 28-year-old suffered a minor cut to his arm, Sea World said in a statement.
The theme park said the man was trying to carry out a routine weight check on the animal when the incident happened.
"An ambulance was called to attend to the trainer. Following the
incident, both the sea lion and trainer are in a good condition," Sea
World said.
The sea lions are coming into their breeding season which can lead to them being in an excited state, the park said. - Daily Telegraph.
A
Brampton woman is undergoing rabies treatment after reporting that she
had been bitten by a coyote in front of her home on Mountain Ridge Rd.
on Thursday night.
Jasmine Bajaj and her family had just arrived home at around 9 p.m. when she realized that she forgot something in her car.
When
she went back out to the driveway, she said a large coyote snuck up
behind her and bit her in the leg, leaving two large puncture wounds on
her calf.
"I don't know where it came from. I felt something grab hold of my leg
and it was really hurting me. When I turned around I saw a big coyote
standing right in front of me," said Bajaj.
"When I saw it was a coyote I was shocked and didn't really know what to do."
With no one else around and only a set of keys in hand, she began
shaking the keys at the animal which made it back off, but not retreat.
Bajaj then says that she slowly backed up towards the safety of her
front door while the animal continued follow and stare at her until she got into the house,which is located in the area of located Steeles Ave.and Mississauga Rd.
"I
wouldn't say that he was scared because he just backed off a bit and
was looking at me in the eyes the whole time," said Bajaj. "I didn't run
because I read that you aren't suppose to.. He followed me to the edge
of the grass right by the front steps. I opened the door and yelled for
my husband - when he came, the coyote was still standing there."
Puncture wound on the leg Jasmin Bajaj of Brampton following
a suspected coyote attack in her driveway on November 6
Residents say that this isn't the first time that people have had close
encounters with coyotes that are believed to live in a nearby ravine.
Perminder Dhuck, whose house backs onto the ravine, claims to have
heard reports in the neighbourhood of an elderly woman being attacked in
a similar manner in the summer.
"I usually see the coyotes
after 9 p.m. They walk up the street and then make their way to the
trail that goes down to the water," said Dhuck. "There are three of them
in a pack... Normally I see them almost every other day."
Dhuck said that he was warned when he bought the house that because of
the proximity to the ravine, that he and other residents should expect
encounters with wildlife.
Bajaj is still undergoing painful
rabies treatments as a precautionary measure which include a series of
shots. She says that neighbours have been concerned about the coyotes
for some time and are passing around a petition, demanding the City of
Brampton take action.
Meanwhile, the City has posted signs in
the area warning residents to avoid the ravine at dawn and dusk and have
also placed traps to capture the offending animal. - Brampton Guardian.
Man killed by elephant in Shimba Hills, Kenya
Charging Bull Elephant
A
45-year-old man was on Saturday evening attacked by an elephant at
Msulwa in Shimba Hills. He was taken to Msambweni hospital where he
died.
Locals accused Kenya Wildlife Service officials of
failing to respond when such incidents occur. Majimboni location senior
assistant chief Matano Nzula said Rafael Mwambi was on his way home from
the shops when the jumbo attacked him.
"The elephant was seen
during the day and it hid in a nearby bush without locals knowing. It
emerged and started destroying crops and that is the time Mwambi was
going home and he was attacked," he said.
Nzula said the
Tangini area has had no fence for the last one year because it was
destroyed when Rural Electrification Authority was supplying power to
locals in the area.
"The problem is KWS had been alerted over
the issue earlier but you can imagine they arrived there at 5pm and so
it was difficult for us to get vehicles to rush the deceased to get
treatment," he said.
"KWS response is poor they have vehicles
but they don't use them to help locals bordering Shimba hills National
park instead they use them for leisure." The chief said KWS must put up a
camp at the area to ensure they respond to locals alarms in time to
avoid more deaths as results of human wildlife conflicts. - The Star.
20 dead whales wash ashore along the western coast of Ghana
Marine
environmental experts, Acorn International, has said 20 dead whales
that were washed ashore along the coast of the Western Region was not as
a result of oil drilling activities on the Jubilee Field.
Prof
Ayaa Kojo Armah, a lecturer in the University of Ghana, Legon and
leading marine scientist, said this at a day’s preliminary findings
verification workshop on underlying causes and proposed solutions to
Ghana’s marine environmental concerns at Half Assini.
He said he
suspected that the whales died in the western countries and were carried
by the currents of the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Guinea, adding that
they were washed in deteriorating state since they kept long in the
sea.
Prof. Armah said if the whales had died in Ghanaians waters they would not have been washed ashore decomposed.
According
to the professor routine discharges of drills, cuttings, produced
water, submarine noise, accidental spillages and other operational
discharges causes whale deaths.
It was organized by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with Acom
International and funded by Kosmos Energy.
About 60 participants
made of chief fishermen, fishmongers and some assembly members, chiefs
and heads of departments from Jomoro and Ellembele attended.
King Kaku Ackah III of Awiaso and Awulae Annor Adjei III of Beyin attended. - Vibe Ghana.
Hundreds of thousands of fish die suddenly in fish farms in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia
Fishermen move around the cage in Gajah Mungkur, Solo, Central Java. (Photo: Antara / Herka Yanis Pangaribowo)
Rain twice in two days in the region Gajah Mungkur Solo, Central Java, a catastrophe for farmers fish cages. Hundreds of thousands of fish farming cages died suddenly. Death is due to the supply of oxygen in the water content has not been adequate, and also mixing the water with sand. Fajri, a floating cage fish farmers Gajah Mungkur told Media Indonesia
said it is feared the death of the fish will continue, as the rain is
believed to still be carrying mud and sand. It's given the volume of water in the reservoir has not been adequate. "Rain will come in the next few days, we still worry about going to
increase the number of tilapia and catfish died. Because the volume of
reservoir water shrinkage is still outstanding, and far short of
expectations. But we have to admit, this is an annual cycle of every
change of season or transition, "he said, Wednesday (11/12/2014). So far, according to Sardi, other cage fish farmers in WGM, there is no
alternative solution to anticipate the transition seasons when fish
mortality. And losses arising from the death of catfish and tilapia in floating cages WGM each year, could reach billions of dollars. What is clear, floating cage fish farming new WGM can be normal again
after the elevation of the water reservoirs are in the normal position.
Throughout still shrinkage, and is in a critical condition like this,
the number of dead fish every day still achieve one to two tons. "Farmers fish cages have experienced huge losses due to the impact of
this change of seasons in 1995, where the number of dead fish reached
100 tonnes," said Fajri. - Metro TV News.
June 01, 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.
Species Disappearing Far Faster Than Before, Earth On The Brink Of A Sixth Great Extinction
The oceanic whitetip shark, once one of Earth’s
most plentiful predators now is rarely seen. Species of plants and
animals are going extinct 1,000 faster than they did before humans. Terry Goss Photography USA/Marine Photobank 2010
Species of plants and animals are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times
faster than they did before humans arrived on the scene, and the world
is on the brink of a sixth great extinction, a new study says.
The study looks at past a nd present rates of extinction and finds a
lower rate in the past than scientists had thought. Species are now
disappearing from Earth about 10 times faster than biologists had
believed, said study lead author noted biologist Stuart Pimm of Duke
University.
"We are on the verge of the sixth extinction," Pimm said from research
at the Dry Tortugas. "Whether we avoid it or not will depend on our
actions."
The work, published Thursday by the journal Science, was hailed as a landmark study by outside experts.
Pimm's study focused on the rate, not the number, of species
disappearing from Earth. It calculated a "death rate" of how many
species become extinct each year out of 1 million species.
In 1995, Pimm found that the pre-human rate of extinctions on Earth was
about 1. But taking into account new research, Pimm and his colleagues
refined that background rate to about 0.1.
Now, that death rate is about 100 to 1,000, Pimm said.Numerous factors
are combining to make species disappear much faster than before, said
Pimm and co-author Clinton Jenkins of the Institute of Ecological
Research in Brazil. But the No. 1 issue is habitat loss. Species are
finding no place to live as more places are built up and altered by
humans.
The buffy-tufted-ear marmoset in Nazsre Paulista, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, lost habitat and is listed as a vulnerable species. Roberto de Lara Haddad 2009
Add to that invasive species crowding out native species, climate change
affecting where species can survive, and overfishing, Pimm said.
The buffy-tufted-ear marmoset is a good example, Jenkins said. Its
habitat has shrunk because of development in Brazil, and a competing
marmoset has taken over where it lives. Now, it's on the international
vulnerable list.
The oceanic white-tip shark used to be one of the most abundant
predators on Earth and they have been hunted so much they are now rarely
seen, said Dalhousie University marine biologist Boris Worm, who wasn't
part of the study but praised it. "If we don't do anything, this will
go the way of the dinosaurs."
Five times, a vast majority of the world's life has been snuffed out in
what have been called mass extinctions, often associated with giant
meteor strikes. About 66 million years ago, one such extinction killed
off the dinosaurs and three out of four species on Earth. Around 252
million years ago, the Great Dying snuffed out about 90 percent of the
world's species.
Pimm and Jenkins said there is hope. Both said the use of smartphones
and applications such as iNaturalist will help ordinary people and
biologists find species in trouble, they said. Once biologists know
where endangered species are they can try to save habitats and use
captive breeding and other techniques to save the species, they said.
One success story is the golden lion tamarin. Decades ago the tiny
primates were thought to be extinct because of habitat loss, but they
were then found in remote parts of Brazil, bred in captivity and
biologists helped set aside new forests for them to live in, Jenkins
said.
"Now there are more tamarins than there are places to put them," he said.
Large Fish Kill Appears On Santa Fe Lake In Kansas, United States
Dead fish dot on the shore of Elks Lake Saturday. Joshua Vail, Tribune
Many fish were found dead in Santa Fe lake this weekend.Groundskeeper Bill
Leeper said the cause is a spontaneous lack of oxygen in the water,
something he was told can happen in some lakes by the Kansas Department
of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. Leeper said he did not know if this would lead to a need to restock the lake. - The Chanute Tribune.
As Dead Deep Sea Sperm Whale Found On Moreton Island Beach, Queensland, Australia
Rotting sperm whale carcass on Moreton Island. Ben Dillaway
A rotting sperm whale carcass on Queensland's Moreton Island is attracting large sharks and creating a stink for visitors.
The 11-metre whale washed up on Friday on the island's eastern side, having been dead for about 24 hours.
The cause of death is unknown, however, Moreton Bay is known to be
heavily populated with bull sharks and bites can be seen on the mammal.
A ranger said the carcass was too large to move with a tractor and it
was hoped it would be washed out to sea on the rising tide. Otherwise,
the whale would be left to decompose on the beach.
Rotting sperm whale carcass on Moreton Island. Ben Dillaway
Tourist Ben Dillaway said the rotting carcass smelled "putrid", adding
he wasn't game to step foot in the water after spotting a "huge shark"
just off the beach.
Sperm whales are rarely seen along the Queensland coast, making the mammal's discovery intriguing.
Though the whale's sex is unknown, it is likely to be a female, as females prefer more temperate waters.
Last year a pod of 11 killer whales beached on Fraser Island, with three
dying. Like the sperm whale, It is unusual for orcas to travel so far
north. - Brisbane Times.
Dolphins Guide Scientists To Rescue Suicidal Girl In Los Angeles, California
Bottlenose dolphin school foraging along the Los Angeles coastline. Photograph by Maddalena Bearzi, Ocean Conservation Society, under NOAA permit
One day, my research team and I were following a school of bottlenose
dolphins near shore as we do on a regular basis in the waters off Los
Angeles, California. We just wrapped up our photo-identification work
and were moving on to take video of dolphin social interactions and
enter data on behavior.
The dolphins were still feeding in circle near shore, when suddenly, one
individual changed direction heading out toward deeper water. A minute
later, the rest of the school turned to follow. We were so accustomed to
tracking these coastal metropolitan dolphins back and forth within a
few hundred meters of the beach, that seeing them abruptly leave a
foraging ground and change direction came as a surprise to the research
team. I decided to follow them.
The dolphins increased their speed, still heading offshore as I pushed
the throttle ahead to keep pace while one of my researchers recorded
this hasty change in behavior on the sighting form.
Somewhere near three miles offshore the dolphin group stopped, forming a sort of ring around a dark object in the water.
"Someone's in the water!" yelled my assistant, standing up and pointing
at the seemingly lifeless body of a girl. For a moment, we were silent.
Then, slowly, I maneuvered the boat closer. The girl was pallid and
blonde and appeared to be fully clothed. As the boat neared, she feebly
turned her head toward us, half-raising her hand as a weak sign for
help.
I cut the engine and called the lifeguards on the
VHF radio. They told us not to do anything until they arrived on site
but it was our unanimous feeling that if we didn't act immediately, the
girl would die. We decided to ignore lifeguard's instructions, instead
pulling the frail and hypothermic body on board. I called the lifeguards
back and informed them that she was alive and that we had her aboard
and we were heading back to Marina del Rey, the closest harbor, as
quickly as possible.
"She is cyanotic," said one of my researchers, also a lifeguard, after a
cursory examination. "She has severe hypothermia. We need to get her
warm!" We managed to get some of her wet garments off and wrap her in a
blanket. We took turns keeping her warm by huddling with her under the
blanket.
The girl was around eighteen and probably foreign because we couldn't
seem to communicate. We tried speaking French, Italian, and Spanish to
no avail and she was barely able to speak but none of us could
understand what she was saying. I couldn't avoid noticing a plastic bag
tied around her neck. It was sealed and seemed to contain her passport
and a folded handwritten note. Somewhere near the harbor, we met up with
the lifeguard rescue boat. We handed her off to them and followed them
back to port.
A couple of hours later, we were all waiting outside the emergency room
at the Marina del Rey hospital. The ER doctor came out to talk with us.
The girl, it seems, would pull through, and he thanked us for our quick
action. He tells us the girl was vacationing in L.A. from Germany and,
as the letter found in her plastic bag explained, she was attempting
suicide. If we hadn't found her, if the dolphins hadn't led us offshore
when they did, to that specific place, she would have died.
Busy as we were trying to save the girl, we completely lost track of the
dolphins. What might they have done with her if we hadn't been there?
Might they have tried to save her? There are many anecdotal accounts of
dolphins saving humans from death and disaster, either by guiding them
to shore, fending off sharks or helping them to remain afloat until help
arrives.
Many scientists think dolphins do not, in fact, save humans because
there is not enough hard scientific evidence to support these stories.
But that day I witnessed coastal bottlenose dolphins suddenly leave
their feeding activities and head offshore. And in doing so, they led us
to save a dying girl, some three miles offshore. Coincidence?
Snake Drops Onto Car Dashboard In Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Joan Bumgarner stands next to her car - the same
car in which she watched a snake drop from the ceiling onto the
dashboard while she was driving. John Hinton/Journal
An elusive snake turned a Wilkes County woman's trip to Winston-Salem into an expensive adventure and resulted in a fruitless two-day search for the reptile. The incident began shortly after noon Wednesday when Joan Bumgarner was driving along U.S. 421 South in eastern Yadkin County, she said. Bumgarner was taking her sister to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for an appointment. Bumgarner said she felt something brush against her leg as she drove her white Lexus RX 350 on the highway into western Forsyth County. "I looked down and didn't see anything," Bumgarner said. "About 10 minutes later, I saw the (snake's) head coming from behind the rearview mirror. It must have crawled up from the seat." It was black and gray, and Bumgarner said she believes it was likely a black snake. The snake then dropped onto the dash board. Bumgarner pulled her SUV off the highway, and she and her sister quickly got out of the vehicle.
The snake didn't bite them, she said. "I stayed as calm as I could, but I was pretty scared," Bumgarner said with a laugh. "The snake literally fell in my sister's lap." Bumgarner called 911, and two deputies and a Forsyth County animal-control officer came to the scene. "One deputy saw the snake, but he couldn't get it," Bumgarner said. That deputy and the animal-control officer didn't see the snake after that, said Tim Jennings, the director of the Forsyth County Animal Control. A deputy then took Bumgarner's sister to Wake Forest Baptist, and a tow truck hauled the SUV and Bumgarner to Flow Lexus of Winston-Salem on Jonestown Road. A group of Flow employees, an animal-control officer and a pest-control specialist searched the vehicle Thursday and Friday, but they couldn't find the snake, either. "Some way or another, it slithered away," said Wally Gordon, the Lexus dealership's service manager.
The snake could have crawled out of the SUV along the highway before it was towed to the car dealership, Jennings said. "I suppose anything is possible," Jennings said. "It could have crawled out of the vehicle, if it felt it was being harassed." Bumgarner, 64, is a retired middle-school teacher who lives in the Mulberry community near North Wilkesboro in a house on a 30-acre tract surrounded by trees. She rented a vehicle from the dealership to get home Thursday. Her SUV was delivered to her Friday. Black snakes, which are not venomous, live in rural areas, and one could have fallen from a tree near Bumgarner's house onto the SUV or crawled into the vehicle through its engine or some other way, Jennings said. The serpentine ordeal left Bumgarner with a bill of almost $700 from the dealership, but she said she wasn't concerned that the snake might still be in her vehicle. "I guess it escaped, at least I hope so," she said. - Journal.
Thousands Of Dead Fish Wash Ashore Alarm Residents In Port Credit, Ontario, Canada
An alewife fish. People walking along the shore of Port Credit
have noticed bodies of the fish washing up in large numbers.
Supplied photo
Thousands of dead fish have washed up on the shores of Port Credit over the last three days, alarming some nearby residents.
The small, silvery fish, which are about 15 centimetres long, have been spotted all along the shoreline and at the mouth of rivers.
But though the scene may look like a sure sign of an unfolding ecological disaster, conservationists say it is a natural phenomenon caused by nothing more dangerous than fluctuations in the temperature of Lake Ontario.
The fish is believed to be the alewife, a species that is not native to Lake Ontario.
According to the University of Wisconsin's Sea Grant Institute website, it is a Atlantic Coast saltwater fish that made its way into the Great Lakes in the late 1940s.
Because the alewife is not well adapted to the freshwater environment in the lakes, it is well known among aquatic biologists for dying off in large numbers, particularly in spring when it moves to shallow waters to mate and is vulnerable to changes in the water temperature.
Jon Clayton, an aquatic biologist with CVC, speculates that high winds over the last few days could have driven colder water from the middle of Lake Ontario to the shore, and the fish couldn't cope with the rapid cooling.
He believes that people may have noticed the die-off more this year than in the past as a result of the rapidly growing numbers of alewife fish in the lake. Data from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources suggest that there are 681 million alewife in Lake Ontario, a number that has more than doubled since 2012. - Durham Region.
Fish Kill Found On Red River In Oklahoma, United States
A popular Love County fishing spot along the Red River has recently become a fish graveyard and is being investigated.
"It's a sad sight," says Chad McMillan.
He says he's been fishing at Tucks Ferry along the Red River for close to 20 years, but this past weekend he saw something he's never seen before - hundreds of dead fish. He thinks the drought could be to blame.
"Lack of rain. We get a little water, goes into the lake, try to fill the lake back up," said Mcmillan.
"The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and Department of Environmental Quality are down there investigating it today, so, it could be a while before we know, if we ever know," says Wildlife and Fisheries Consultant Mike Porter with the Noble Foundation.
He says any theories about the cause are just speculation.
"A sign of bacteria, maybe something was dumped in the river, we don't know. We have no idea," said Porter.
WATCH: Fish kill at Red River under investigation.
And Porter says this isn't the first fish kill investigation along the Red River in recent years.
"There's been several organizations that have looked in depth at that, and nobody has been able to figure out really what caused it," said Porter.
He explains that any possible toxins that might've killed the fish, may dissipate very quickly making the investigation difficult. But he says there are a few possible and common causes.
"Dissolved oxygen, bacteria, toxins, and then man-made pollutants occasionally get in the water. Those are the three main causes," said Porter.
McMillan says, for now, he'll have to take his fishing to another location.
"It was a regular spot. Now we pretty much stick to the lake." - KXII.
Large Amount Of Dead Fish Found In A Lake In Wuhan, China
Pictured: two pipe members are salvaging dead fish Lake (reporter Lei Weiwei photo)
In Hanyang many dead fish floating in the lake the lake. In the southerly role in almost all the dead fish gathered in the northern shore of Lake ink. Lake pipes staff, more dead fish these days, they are losing no time to salvage.
At noon yesterday, the ink Lake Bridge on the west side of Lake of the ink , the reporter saw hundreds of square meters of the lake on the floating head too big dead fish, ink Hubei shore, bringing together a large number of dead fish have been corrupt. Southerly breeze blowing, the air fills with the stench.
A staff member surnamed Gan Hanyang fish farms introduced, starting in 2012, ink lake had " early retirement " and no longer engage in the use of lake fish farming, also did not specifically put fish, dead fish fry may be slipping through the net at the time.
It is involved in the salvage of dead fish in the lake tube member Master Feng introduced, these days, the number of dead fish in the lake of ink gradually increased, starting yesterday morning, four people have been in their boats uninterrupted salvage of dead fish, and its focus buried. According to Feng master analysis, the increase may be due to dead fish with recent weather Enthusiasm, and the fish itself sick about. - Eastday. [Translated]
Snake Causes Power Outage In Duncan, Oklahoma
A slithering snake caused a power outage in Duncan, Comanche, Waurika and parts of Lawton in the predawn hours Saturday.
The snake crawled into a switch station shared by Western Farmers
Electric Cooperative and Public Service of Oklahoma a mile south of
Comanche to cause the problem, company officials said.
Power to 3,147 customers in Duncan, Comanche, Waurika and parts of
Lawton was curtailed, at 3:31 a.m., but was restored by 4:46 a.m. after
the snake's fried remains were removed, said Ed Bettinger, a spokesman
for PSO.
"The snake was on Western Farmers' side of the
switch station, but it still managed to affect both customers,"
Bettinger said.
Sondra Boykin, communications coordinator of Western Farmers Electric
Cooperative, said customers in Ryan and Sugden lost electricity.
"It was all because of a stupid snake," she said. - Duncan Banner.
