Category Archives: Animals

A third of land set aside for restoration in worse state than before, Australian offset audit finds

Posted on by

Federal review sparks fresh warnings that biodiversity scheme is increasing risk of animals going extinct

A review of some of the areas chosen for nature restoration as part of Australia’s biodiversity offset system has found a third are in worse condition than before, prompting fresh warnings that the scheme is increasing the risk of animals going extinct.

In one instance, the majority of a site that should have provided grey-headed flying fox and koala habitat was found to be “cleared paddock with negligible foraging value”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Like the devil on meth’: New Zealand feral cat killing competition produces record haul

Posted on by

Contest condemned by animal rights groups sees children and adults hunt cats, which threaten native wildlife

A controversial competition that allows children to hunt feral cats in rural New Zealand for cash prizes has produced its biggest haul yet, with roughly 340 animals killed – about 100 more than last year’s event.

The annual North Canterbury fundraising event, which wrapped up this weekend, is open to children and adult participants and targets deer, pigs, ducks, possums and rabbits.

Continue reading...

Rare white buffalo sacred to Lakota not seen in Yellowstone since birth

Posted on by

Park staff say they have not been able to locate calf, who fulfilled Lakota prophecy and is named Wakan Gli

A rare white buffalo calf in Yellowstone national park has not been seen since its birth on 4 June, according to park officials.

In a statement released on Friday, the National Park Service (NPS) confirmed that a white buffalo calf was born in Lamar Valley earlier this month, adding that the park’s buffalo management team had received numerous reports of the calf on 4 June from park visitors, professional wildlife watchers, commercial guides and researchers.

Continue reading...

More than 100 dolphins stranded in shallow water around Cape Cod

Posted on by

Volunteers work to herd Atlantic white-sided dolphins found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, into deeper water

More than 100 dolphins have become stranded in the shallow waters around Cape Cod on Friday in what an animal welfare group is calling “the largest single mass stranding event” in the organization’s 25-year history.

A group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, about 100 miles south-east of Boston, in an area called the Gut – or Great Island at the Herring River – which experts have said is the site of frequent strandings, due in part to its hook-like shape and extreme tidal fluctuations.

Continue reading...

Florida shark attack leaves man in critical condition

Posted on by

Swimmer off Fernandina beach was rescued by Nassau county marine unit after distress call from boat on Friday

A shark attack off Florida’s Atlantic coast left a man with a “severe bite to his right arm” on Friday, authorities say, leaving him in critical condition from blood loss.

The Nassau county sheriff’s office marine unit, which was patrolling off the coast of Fernandina beach near the Florida-Georgia border, said it had received a distress call from a boat on Friday and had applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

Continue reading...

Protecting just 1.2% of Earth’s land could save most-threatened species, says study

Posted on by

Study identifies 16,825 sites around the world where prioritising conservation would prevent extinction of thousands of unique species

Protecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.

Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on land would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of the mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are closest to disappearing.

Continue reading...

Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry dies in shark attack

Posted on by

The actor, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was a lifeguard and professional surfer, described as a ‘legendary waterman’

Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry has died following a shark attack in Hawaii.

Perry, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was surfing at Malaekahana beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when he died on Sunday afternoon.

Continue reading...

Diesel the escaped pet donkey found living with elk after five years

Posted on by

California family lets Diesel ‘live his best life’ with his new herd after he got loose on a camping trip

A donkey spotted apparently living with a herd of wild elk in a video that went viral on the internet has been identified as Diesel, a once beloved pet who had apparently run away five years ago.

The video was taken earlier this year, when Max Fennell, a hunter in northern California, filmed a group of wild elk apparently hanging out with a donkey who appeared to be a member of their herd.

Continue reading...

Surrey police face criticism after using car to ram escaped cow

Posted on by

Home secretary demands ‘urgent explanation’ over ‘heavy-handed’ attempt to capture wandering animal

The home secretary has asked Surrey police to provide a “full, urgent explanation” after footage showed officers using a car to ram an escaped cow.

James Cleverly made the comments after footage posted online showed officers ramming the cow twice with their police car, while an onlooker is heard shouting: “What are you doing that for?”

Continue reading...

Top CDC officials warns US needs ‘more tests’ in face of bird flu fears

Posted on by

Agency principal deputy director wants more testing of farm workers who work in proximity to affected animals

There is not enough testing for bird flu among people and animals in the US, says Dr Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – but he is wary of pushing the issue and damaging fragile trust among farm workers and owners.

“We would like to be doing more tests,” Shah said. “We’d like to be testing particularly not just symptomatic workers, but anyone on a farm who is exposed.”

Continue reading...

Bear shreds seats then dozes off after breaking into Canadian woman’s car

Posted on by

Black bear apparently opened the vehicle by lifting door handle with its mouth, after breaking into same car last year

After a string of vehicle break-ins in a north Canadian town, local residents have identified the culprit: a black bear with a taste for upholstery foam.

Awoken by a noise near midnight on 11 June, Kayla Seward, who lives in the Ontario township of Larder Lake, went outside to investigate – and found the sleepy black bear locked inside her car.

Continue reading...

Rare white buffalo born at Yellowstone prompts Lakota Sioux celebration

Posted on by

The birth, not yet confirmed by park officials, holds special significance to tribe as ‘both a blessing and warning’

A rare white buffalo has been born in Yellowstone national park, with the arrival prompting local Lakota Sioux leaders to plan a special celebration, with the calf representing a sign of hope and the need to look after the planet.

The white calf was reportedly spotted shortly after its birth, on Tuesday last week, by park visitor Erin Braaten, a photographer. She took several shots of the wobbly baby after spotting it amongst a herd of buffalo in the north-eastern corner of the large park, located in Wyoming and a small slice of Montana.

Continue reading...

Rare birds at risk as narco-gangs move into forests to evade capture – report

Posted on by

Cocaine traffickers have put two-thirds of Central America’s key habitats for threatened birds under threat, study finds

Cocaine consumption is threatening rare tropical birds as narco-traffickers move into some of the planet’s most remote forests to evade drug crackdowns, a study has warned.

Two-thirds of key forest habitats for birds in Central America are at risk of being destroyed by “narco-driven” deforestation, according to the paper, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Sustainability.

Continue reading...

Rare white grizzly bear and two cubs killed in Canada in separate car strikes

Posted on by

Cubs killed by cars earlier in the day before spooked Nakoda ran on to highway, where another vehicle struck her

National park staff in Canada are mourning the “devastating” loss of a rare white grizzly bear and her cubs after all three were killed in separate vehicle collisions on the same day.

The bear formally referred to as GBF178 but named Nakoda by locals had in recent months been spotted with her two cubs foraging on spring dandelions along a stretch of highway between Lake Louise and Yoho national parks.

Continue reading...

Iceland grants country’s last whaling company licence to hunt 128 fin whales

Posted on by

Conservationists criticise ‘disappointing’ and ‘dangerous’ move to allow harpooning of fin whales after curbs last year

Iceland has granted a licence to Europe’s last whaling company to kill more than 100 animals this year, despite hopes the practice might have been halted after concerns about cruelty led to a temporary suspension last year.

Animal rights groups described the news as “deeply disappointing” and “dangerous”.

Continue reading...

Wild horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after absence of two centuries

Posted on by

Seven Przewalski’s horses, the only truly wild species of the animal in the world, flown to central Asian country from zoos in Europe

A group of the world’s last wild horses have returned to their native Kazakhstan after an absence of about 200 years. The seven horses, four mares from Berlin and a stallion and two other mares from Prague, were flown to the central Asian country on a Czech air force transport plane.

The wild horses, known as Przewalski’s horses, once roamed the vast steppe grasslands of central Asia, where horses are believed to have been first domesticated about 5,500 years ago.

Continue reading...

Party Bus the rodeo bull escapes Oregon arena and wounds three people

Posted on by

Bull hopped fence and ran through concession area, lifting one person off the ground, before professionals secured it

A rodeo bull named Party Bus hopped a fence surrounding an Oregon arena and ran through a concession area into a parking lot, injuring at least three people before wranglers caught up with it, officials said.

The crowd at the 84th Sisters Rodeo in the city of Sisters was singing along with Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA on Saturday night, most with their cellphone flashlights on, as the bull ran around the arena before what was to be the final bull ride of the night, when the bull hopped the fence, according to a video shot by a fan.

Continue reading...

Dog runs four miles to get help for owner who crashed car into Oregon ravine

Posted on by

Brandon Garrett was driving solo with his four dogs near where his family was camping, when he failed to navigate a turn

A dog ran four miles to get help for his owner who crashed his car into a ravine in Oregon – and was ultimately rescued because of the animal’s heroics, according to authorities.

The case unfolded as Brandon Garrett was driving with his four dogs north on US Forest Service Road 39 in Baker county, near where his family was camping.

Continue reading...

Sharks attack three swimmers off two Florida beaches

Posted on by

Woman, 45, sustains ‘significant trauma’ and has part of arm amputated, as two teens injured in second attack

Two separate shark attacks at Florida beaches wounded three swimmers, including two teenagers, prompting some popular vacation spots to temporarily close, according to authorities.

A shark bit a 45-year-old woman at about 1.20pm on Friday while she swam at Watersound beach, along the coast of Walton county, Florida, in the eastern part of the state.

Continue reading...