Category Archives: Animals

Kangaroo punches police officer as it is captured after weekend on the run in Canada

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The animal escaped handlers during a rest stop in Ontario while being transported to a zoo in Quebec

A kangaroo that escaped its handlers during transport to a new home has been captured east of Toronto after a weekend in the wild, but not before delivering a punch in the face to one of the police officers who brought her run to an end.

The female kangaroo hopped over her handlers late on Thursday during a rest stop at the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm in Ontario, the park’s head keeper Cameron Preyde told CBC.

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Young green sea turtles tracked travelling deep into Sydney harbour and living near humans

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Taronga Wildlife hospital tracked three turtles that had been rescued, with one swimming as far as Longueville

Endangered green sea turtles spend much of their young lives in close proximity to people, including travelling deep within Sydney harbour, new research suggests.

Satellite tracking shows turtles frequenting busy waterways, including the harbour and Parramatta River, around Wollongong harbour, Brisbane Waters near Gosford and up the Hawkesbury River, as far as Cottage Point.

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Exit from Edinburgh zoo may signal end to era of China’s panda diplomacy

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Beijing’s strained relations with the west are less easily mollified by loans of cuddly endangered bears

As the UK’s only giant pandas leave Edinburgh zoo , returning to their native country after a 12-year sojourn away from China, the era of panda diplomacy also looks to be coming to an end.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang will board the panda express back to Sichuan less than a month after three giant pandas left the Smithsonian national zoo in Washington DC, ending the zoo’s five-decade panda programme.

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Back from the brink: sand-swimming golden mole, feared extinct, rediscovered after 86 years

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Border collie Jessie sniffs out elusive species last seen in 1937 among dunes of South Africa

An elusive, iridescent golden mole not recorded since before the second world war has been rediscovered “swimming” in the sand near the coastal town of Port Nolloth in north-west South Africa.

The De Winton’s golden mole (Cryptochloris wintoni), previously feared extinct, lives in underground burrows and had not been seen since 1937. It gets its “golden” name from oily secretions that lubricate its fur so it can “swim” through sand dunes. This means it does not create conventional tunnels, making it all the harder to detect.

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‘Very sweet milestone’: wild-born kiwi chicks are Wellington’s first in a century

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New Zealand’s national icon is also one of its most vulnerable birds and conservationists believe it was absent from capital for generations

Two kiwi chicks have been born in the wild around Wellington for the first time in more than 100 years, one year after the national bird was reintroduced to New Zealand’s capital.

The fluffy and flightless kiwi is one of the most vulnerable birds in New Zealand and conservationists believe it has been absent from the capital for generations.

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‘A biodiversity catastrophe’: how the world could look in 2050 – unless we act now

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The climate crisis, invasive species, overexploitation of resources and pollution could break down crucial ecosystems. We asked experts to lay out the risks and offer some solutions

The continued destruction of nature across the planet will result in major shocks to food supplies and safe water, the disappearance of unique species and the loss of landscapes central to human culture and leisure by the middle of this century, experts have warned.

By 2050, if humanity does not follow through on commitments to tackle the five main drivers of nature loss critical natural systems could break down just as the human population is projected to peak.

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Kosovo zoo rescue lion and bears come out to play in winter snow

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Sanctuary sets up heaters to take chill off rescue animals that have lost habit of entering full hibernation

Workers at a bear sanctuary in Pristina are working hard to look after a lion that wants to play in the snow and bears who were removed from their natural habitat when they were cubs and also enjoy the snowy conditions because they do not hibernate any more.

As the winter’s first snowfall covered Bear Sanctuary Prishtina in the Kosovan capital, visitors enjoyed the sight of a lion playing before quickly taking shelter indoors where a heater was installed to fend off temperatures which fell below freezing.

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Bone cows bred in Australia provide base material for dental grafts

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Use of cattle from country free of mad cow disease means product is safe, experts say, and patients can still donate blood

Bone cows, specially bred in mad cow-free Australia, are being used instead of human donors for dental and medical bone grafts.

While bovine grafts have been tested for spinal fusion, foot reconstructions and to fix skull traumas, the Australian versions are predominantly used in dental work to strengthen degraded jaws before tooth implants.

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‘We have to work urgently’: Mexican ecologists start campaign to save axolotl

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Pollution has tamped population density by 99.5%, but scientists think cultural icon could aid in tissue repair and cancer recovery

Ecologists from Mexico’s National Autonomous University on Friday relaunched a fundraising campaign to bolster conservation efforts for axolotls, a native, endangered fish-like type of salamander.

The campaign, called Adoptaxolotl, asks people for as little as 600 pesos (about $35) to virtually adopt one of the tiny “water monsters”. Virtual adoption comes with live updates on your axolotl’s health. For less money, donors can buy a virtual dinner for one of the creatures, which are relatively popular pets in the US.

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Owner of two dogs shot dead by police given suspended sentence

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Louie Turnbull pleads guilty to owning dangerously out of control animals after they attacked woman’s dog by east London canal

A man whose two dogs were shot dead by police in front of him has been given a suspended sentence for owning dangerously out of control animals.

Viral footage circulated on social media of Metropolitan police officers killing Louie Turnbull’s canines beside an east London canal in May this year.

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Illegal bird of prey killings fall to lowest level in decade, but ‘true figure may be far higher’

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RSPB says figures distorted by failure to examine raptors caught in avian flu outbreak for signs of shooting or poisoning

Confirmed incidents of the illegal persecution of birds of prey have fallen to their lowest levels for more than a decade, according to the latest RSPB Birdcrime report.

But the conservation charity warned that the reduction in incidents to 61 in 2022 is distorted by a failure to examine dead raptors caught in the avian flu outbreak for signs of illegal killing.

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‘Alive with rats’: north Queensland town of Karumba overrun by plague of swimming rodents

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A sea of rats has been washing up dead on the beach, with others scurrying across boat ramps into garden sheds and homes

The north Queensland town of Karumba is home to saltwater crocs, brolgas and black swans – and, more recently – hundreds of swimming rats.

A sea of rodents has been washing up dead on the beach in recent days, with others scurrying across the boat ramps into garden sheds and homes.

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‘Extremely venomous’ green mamba on the loose in Netherlands

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Police in southern city of Tilburg tell residents to stay indoors after owner reported missing snake

An “extremely venomous” 2-metre green mamba snake is on the loose in the Netherlands, police have said, warning residents to stay indoors and under no circumstances attempt to ensnare the serpent.

Police in the southern city of Tilburg said they were alerted by the mamba’s owner on Monday evening that “he was missing a snake”.

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Orphaned mountain lion sisters find new home at California zoo

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Willow and Maple, whose mother was hit by car on highway, were dehydrated and underweight when they were found in backyard

The two sisters are tiny – only five and a half pounds, and about two months old. They have giant eyes and mottled patches on their fur. Found in a backyard five days after their mother was hit on Highway 280 in northern California, the mountain lions headed to a new home at the Oakland zoo last week.

The sisters, now named Willow and Maple, were hungry and tired after not eating for five days. The cubs were visibly dehydrated, and underweight, and were checked for parasites and viruses by veterinarians, zoo officials said.

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Zimbabwean ranger brings unloved painted dogs back from brink

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Jealous Mpofu wins Tusk’s ranger of the year award for his work with a maligned and misunderstood species

When Jealous Mpofu was a boy, he overheard his father’s bosses talking negatively about painted dogs, wild African canines with distinct marble coats that are among the world’s most endangered species.

“They said they didn’t kill an animal, they grabbed the flesh. They said they were rough animals,” Mpofu said.

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Two airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after dog attack in north Wales

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Two others injured in Pwllheli attack, involving dog that was destroyed and whose breed not yet established

Two people have been airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after a dog attack in Pwllheli, north Wales.

Officers attended an address in the Rhoshirwaun area just before 11.30am on Friday, and two other people suffered minor injuries, North Wales police said.

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Moldovan president’s dog bites hand of Austrian president

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Incident happened in Moldovan presidential residence when Alexander Van der Bellen tried to pet Maia Sandu’s rescue dog

The dog of the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, has overturned protocol by biting the visiting Austrian president, Alexander Van der Bellen, on the hand.

The incident occurred on Thursday when the two leaders were strolling in the courtyard of the Moldovan presidential residence in the capital, Chișinău, and Van der Bellen tried to pet the dog, Moldovan media reported.

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‘Miracle dog’ returned to family after staying with owner who died hiking

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Finney the jack russell terrier had survived after spending more than 10 weeks by her owner when he died on a mountain hike

A faithful dog who survived after spending more than 10 weeks by her owner when he died on a mountain hike is safely back with the rest of her human loved ones – and back on the trails – the family has said.

Rich Moore, 71, of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, died of hypothermia while hiking in the San Juan mountains in the south of the state in August.

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More than half of UK and Ireland seabirds in decline, census finds

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Species populations falling, with some decreasing due to loss of habitat and less food availability

More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date.

Eleven of 21 nesting seabirds species have fallen, five species have remained stable and five have increased, some because of targeted conservation work, according to the Seabirds Count survey.

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‘Puking’ pūteketeke crowned New Zealand bird of the century after John Oliver campaign

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Annual competition inundated with a record number of votes after comedian took the Australasian crested grebe under his wing

New Zealand has crowned a bird that grunts, pukes and has a highly unusual repertoire of mating rituals as its bird of the century.

The threatened Australasian crested grebe, or pūteketeke, was thrown into the global spotlight by a powerful backer, British-American comedian and talkshow host John Oliver.

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