Category Archives: Animals

Judicial review hearing granted over XL bully ban

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From Sunday it is illegal to rehome, sell or transfer ownership of the dogs in England and Wales

A judicial review hearing has been granted for campaigners seeking to overturn the UK government’s ban on XL bully dogs, with owners of the animals now subject to tight restrictions as the legislation comes into force.

From Sunday, it is illegal to rehome, sell or transfer ownership of XL bully dogs in England and Wales, and they must be muzzled and kept on a leash when in public, with animal rescue centres fearing they could be forced to euthanise hundreds of dogs.

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South Australian shark attack: tributes flow for ‘talented and dearly loved’ teenage surfer

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Khai Cowley, 15, was killed by a suspected great white shark off Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula

A teenage boy killed in a shark attack off the coast of South Australia has been remembered as a talented and dearly loved member of the surfing community.

The 15-year-old, identified by friends and a family member as Khai Cowley, was mauled by a suspected great white while surfing off the remote Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula west of Adelaide about 1.30pm on Thursday.

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Teenage boy killed in fatal shark attack near Ethel Beach in South Australia

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Body recovered from ocean off Dhilba Guuranda-Innes national park on the Yorke Peninsula

A teenage boy has died after a shark attack near Ethel Beach in South Australia, police say.

At 1.30pm on Thursday police received reports of a shark attack in Dhilba Guuranda-Innes national park, on the Yorke Peninsula.

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‘It just grabbed her’: Izzy, a beloved terrier-spaniel cross, killed by XL bully

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Lee Parkin intervened in vain in 20-minute attack as he walked his dog near his home in Doncaster

Lee Parkin had been the proud owner of his terrier-spaniel cross Izzy for nearly 10 years when he stepped out for what would be his last walk with his beloved pet.

He was walking Izzy near his home in Doncaster when an XL bully pounced on her, mounting a 20-minute attack and ultimately killing the dog in front of Parkin, who desperately intervened in vain.

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Weather changes causing chaos for UK flora and fauna, says National Trust audit

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National Trust gave long list of species that have suffered in the past year

The disappearance of reliable seasonal patterns is causing chaos for the flora and fauna of the UK, a long-running annual audit of the impact of weather on nature has found.

Extreme weather events, from storms and pounding rain to searing heat and drought are putting huge pressure on animals, plants and the environment, the report from the National Trust says.

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Animal shelter in Pennsylvania empty for first time in 47 years

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Just in time for Christmas, Adams county SPCA adopts out 598 animals and reunites 125 with their owners

An animal shelter in Pennsylvania reached a milestone this Christmas season, celebrating one of the rare moments where less is more.

The Adams county SPCA, which houses dogs, cats and other homeless, abandoned or lost animals, was empty for the first time in 47 years, according to a Facebook post from the shelter, reported by CNN.

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March of the red crabs: months of preparation for annual mass migration on Christmas Island

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Temporary roadside barriers set up to channel tens of millions of crabs migrating to the coastline

The welcome mat has been rolled out for scores of red crabs as they make their annual coastal dash on Christmas Island.

Each year, the first substantial rain of the wet season triggers tens of millions of adult red crabs to leave their forest homes, in the interior of the island, and march towards the coast to mate and spawn.

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Five new species of soft-furred hedgehogs discovered in south-east Asia

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There are now seven known species of soft-furred hedgehogs, which look like a cross between a mouse and a shrew

Scientists have identified five new species of soft-furred hedgehogs from south-east Asia.

Two of the species discovered are entirely new to science, while three have been elevated from subspecies level by researchers, who carried out DNA analysis as well as detailed physical observations of the mammals.

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No sheep’s clothing needed: Colorado reintroduces five gray wolves

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Wolves are the first part of a plan to reintroduce the endangered species into the state after it was eradicated in the region

In an effort to restore an endangered species, Colorado just released five gray wolves in the western part of the state.

On Monday, Colorado parks and wildlife released two female and three male wolves on to remote public land. The predators were captured and brought over from Oregon, after Wyoming, Idaho and Montana refused to share their wolves citing interstate migration and financial concerns.

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Wolf hunting could return to western Europe under EU plan

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Commission’s proposal to downgrade animal’s ‘strictly protected’ status not based on scientific evidence, say conservationists

Wolves could be hunted again across western Europe after the European Commission proposed to reduce their protection, in what lawyers said was an ominous move against effective environmental laws.

The commission has proposed that EU member states downgrade the wolf’s status under the Berne convention from “strictly protected” to “protected” after two decades in which the species has returned to many countries from which it has been extinct for decades, including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.

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Japan zoo investigates possible mass squirrel poisoning

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Dozens of the animals died after they were treated with anti-parasitic medicine

A Japanese zoo has launched an investigation after apparently killing 31 of its 40 squirrels by mistake with treatments meant to kill parasites, officials said.

Keepers at the Inokashira Park Zoo in Tokyo treated the animals with anti-parasitic medicine on 4 December as part of a sanitary precaution, while also spraying insecticide over their nest boxes.

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Tokyo taxi driver arrested, accused of running over pigeon

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Atsushi Ozawa accused of using car to kill common pigeon, which vets said died of traumatic shock

To some, they are another species of feathered friend; to others, they are rats with wings whose droppings deface historic buildings.

But in Japan, pigeons may have become the victims of crime, after police arrested a Tokyo taxi driver on suspicion of deliberately driving into a flock of the birds, killing one of them.

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Police in Greece investigate after tourists targeted in bedbug hoax

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Health ministry says posters in English outside apartment buildings in Athens were ‘absolutely false’

Greece’s health ministry is seeking police help against hoaxers who tried to scare foreign tourists out of short-term rental apartments in Athens by inventing a bedbug crisis.

A ministry statement said the posters stuck up outside apartment buildings in the city centre, festooned with fake ministry and Athens municipality logos, were “absolutely false”.

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Boston woman killed by shark attack while paddleboarding in Bahamas

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Woman was reported to have just gotten married and the man paddleboarding with her as her groom

A shark attacked and killed a Boston newlywed off the coast of the Bahamas on Monday, according to authorities and reports.

Local police said the woman, 44, was bit by a shark at about 11.15am in New Providence. The woman was paddleboarding with a man at the time of the attack, presumed to be her husband.

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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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